Displacement by LosingInTranslation

Chapter 3

Assistant Medical Examiner David Phillips had just returned from another crime scene (his sixth of the night) and he just wanted to get away from CSI headquarters for a little while. His mistake was in trying to leave through the front door. The receptionist stopped him cold, “DAVID!”

He instantly slumped his shoulders before turning around to face the woman at the front desk, “Can it wait, Judy? I was just leaving.”

The diminutive receptionist stood up behind the desk and pointed at a professional looking woman sitting in the chairs of the waiting area. “She’s been here for almost an hour, and Doc Robbins is still in the field. Think you can get her started until he gets here?”

David looked over at the woman, and she was just casually reading a magazine, “Started on what?”

The receptionist moved closer to David and whispered, “She’s the one he’s interviewing today… To replace him.” As soon as the words penetrated David’s overworked and extremely tired brain, everything snapped into focus.

Practically smacking his own head in frustration and surprise, “Right!... Um, yeah, I can give her the tour… Did Dr. Robbins say when he was going to be back?”

“Last time I called him he said they were loading up now and should be driving back soon… But he said he was twenty minutes out.” She looked down at her watch, “That was like ten minutes ago, so I figure he’s probably twenty to thirty minutes still.”

David shook his head, “Right, so I’ll get her started and at least let her wait in his office, instead of out here in the melee.”

The receptionist gave him an appreciative nod, “Thanks, David… I felt really bad about telling her he still wasn’t here again.”

Taking a deep breath and letting it out quickly, David began his walk over to the woman who obviously had the patience of Job. When he was standing right next to her, she just looked away from her reading briefly to notice his presence and then placed a mark over where she had stopped, removed the earphone from her right ear, and closed the magazine. “It’s okay, I’ve already been helped and I’m just waiting for my appointment.”

David fumbled a little at her having spoken first, but he quickly recovered, “Ah.. Um.. No, see, I’m Dr. Robbins’ assistant. And he’s um, still on scene, but he should be back shortly. Reception asked me to give you the tour while you wait, and I’ll take you back to the doctor’s office… So, you can wait where it isn’t quite so busy.”

The woman stood up, and that was when David realized just how tall she was. Looking up into her face, he figured her to be at least six feet tall. She extended a hand to him and he took it, noticing that she definitely had doctor’s hands; closely manicured nails, worn skin from the powder in the gloves they wore most of the day, and strong fingers. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Robbins’ Assistant.”

Her words broke David from his observations, “Oh, um… Sorry, David Phillips, nice to meet you, too.”

“Thanks, David… And don’t worry, everyone is a little intimidated by my height. It’s probably why I use wheelie stools in the morgue so much.” Her smile was disarming, and David was much more at ease now. “Oh, and it’s Stephanie, Stephanie MacInnerney.”

David gestured towards the entry doors, “Well, then let’s head right this way, Dr. MacInnerney.” They both walked up to the doors and David took the guest badge from the receptionist and handed it to this new woman. As the striking woman quickly pinned it to the lapel of her suit jacket, David mused that this could definitely be an interesting development for the lab, if this was the woman Dr. Robbins chose to succeed him.

Reaching the first area, he peeked in to find no one in the A/V Lab, “This is the A/V Analysis Lab… Archie is usually in here still, but he must have already finished for the day.”

She took an appraising eye of the place before commenting, “I imagine being in Las Vegas, there is a great deal of video to process for almost any given case.”

David was taken aback by her observation, “Yeah… That’s what I’m told.” He gestured towards the next area and she followed his cue.

Walking over to the Print Lab, David stopped at the door when he saw the day shift person working in there. When he spoke to the woman now, he was using a hushed voice, “This is the Print Lab, and the day shift people are not fond of interruptions, so we’ll just move on now.” The woman chuckled at his apprehension, but she once again followed his lead.

He peered around the corner into the Trace Lab, and was relieved to not find anyone in there. The last thing he wanted this late in the shift was to be dealing with Hodges, “Uh, this is the Trace Lab, and you will learn to avoid it at all costs.”

She was noticeably intrigued by his comment. “And why is that, David?” she asked as she looked around the lab.

“The night shift guy is a real-.”

“Real nice guy to have around… Right, David?” Hodges chose that moment to re-enter the lab and place himself between David and this new woman. Not waiting for David to continue, he decided to introduce himself, “Hello, I’m David Hodges… One of the senior techs here at the lab, and a charming delight to have around… And you are?” Hodges was being his normal, oily self.

“Just visiting.” And with those two short words, she turned out of the Trace Lab with David slipping carefully past Hodges and trying not to let his smirk seem too obvious. David was definitely right; this woman might just be the perfect fit for this place.

The rest of their tour was fairly uneventful, and with every interaction, David was becoming more and more convinced that this new development in the morgue might not be as bad as he had originally envisioned. When Dr. Robbins first told him he would be moving to days, David was heartbroken. He had never worked with another coroner and was not looking forward to either. With classes and his fiancé, David knew he would not be able to follow the doctor to the day shift. And besides, David hated working with most of the day shift techs, since they seemed to have unreasonably high opinions of themselves. David decided being caught by the receptionist was probably the best part of his shift tonight, because it had given him a unique chance to meet with the person who could very well be his new boss in a few weeks.

When they finally reached Dr. Robbins office, David was now feeling comfortable enough to actually look at this new doctor. He realized that, in addition to being over the six foot estimation he had made earlier, that she also possessed an athletic build. He also noticed that her hair was not a deep brown, as he had originally perceived, but that it was actually a very rich auburn with what seemed to be a natural curl to it, though he suspected she did something to it to keep it from becoming as uncontrollably curly as his could get when it was longer. He also observed that she was quick to smile, which was a trait sorely in short supply around CSI headquarters. Overall, he surmised that she had a pleasant disposition and seemed to have a wealth of knowledge regarding the whole process of forensics. He assumed that she probably had some kind of degree in forensics, as well as her medical degree. He also realized that she was an extremely attractive woman, and would have most of the guys around here standing on their ears with a simple glance.

However, before he could continue his analysis and start asking her any questions about her background, Dr. Robbins had finally arrived, “David, Dispatch said that you had taken charge of my interv-.” Doc Robbins stopped his question as soon as he noticed the young woman who had just stood up from her seat in his office, “Ah… I guess they were right… Dr. MacInnerney, I presume?” The doctor stepped towards the woman with his free hand extended.

“Indeed,” she took the proffered hand and nodded her head. “Good to see you finally got out of the field… Busy night?”

The doctor released her hand and started making his way around to the other side of his desk, “That would be the understatement of the decade… Any time they get me out of the morgue, it is more than just busy.” He turned back to David, “David, if you could log in the last body, you can go ahead and sign off for the day… I know you’ve been going since about 5PM and you have class tonight.”

David looked visibly relieved to hear the doctor’s suggestion, “Thank you, Dr. Robbins. I’ll get that done now.” He turned to the woman, “And it was nice to meet you, Dr. MacInnerney.”

The woman nodded at his comment, “Likewise, David… And thanks for the tip about Trace.” David was not certain as he turned to leave the office, but he thought the woman had winked at him when she commented about Hodges. He thought to himself, And a decent sense of humor; I like her.

Chapter 4

Dr. Robbins was still trying to catch his breath from his morning jaunt out to a crime scene. It was the last thing he had planned on today, but poor David had already gone on six calls that night and had been on the sixth when the call came down from Dispatch. Day shift had not arrived yet, and the doctor decided he had better take the call himself. He could only hope that it would not take very long and he could get back to the office in time for his interview. That was just not in the cards for him, and he was still fighting to get the body extracted from the vehicle when he had noticed it was 9AM. He quickly called the front desk of CSI headquarters to let them know he was running behind, but to have David give the woman the tour of the facility when he returned from his last case, and he would be there as soon as he could.

He had been worried about giving the woman a bad impression of what the job would entail. He was worried, because during his search for a replacement, he had been sorely disappointed with the quality of candidates for the position. This woman might have been short on criminalistic experience, due mostly to her exceptionally young age, but her other credentials were impeccable. She had only been out of her residency for a year, but she had spent that year working at the L.A. County Coroner’s Office, and that meant her experience probably counted for three times that in the volume of cases worked. After he had started calling her professional references, he quickly realized that he had a star in the making with this young woman. She received glowing recommendations from the head of the biology department at UC – Berkeley. The head of pathology at UCLA Medical School could not have praised her more, and told him that he would never find a more astute pathologist in their field. But he was most surprised by the comments coming from the L.A. County Coroner. Seeing as the young woman had only been there for a year, the L.A. County Coroner had given her only the highest of compliments, and lamenting about her decision to relocate to Las Vegas. Dr. Robbins had high hopes that this interview would prove that the young woman had what it would take to handle the unusual environment of the LVPD crime lab nightshift; or more importantly, if she had the metal to be able to handle the CSI night shift crew.

He pulled out the folder with her resume, transcripts and recommendations before he started talking again, “I really am sorry about being so late… It was simply unavoidable, I’m afraid.”

She just smiled at his apology, “Unfortunately, people do not like to die at appropriate times, do they?”

The doctor laughed out loud at her coroner humor, “Indeed… Terribly rude of them…” He found the page he was looking for and looked back up at the woman. “I know you have another interview to get to, so I will try to keep this as short as possible. How much time do you have?”

She simply shook her head to dismiss his concerns, “Not a problem at all… My other appointment isn’t until after lunch, so we’re good to go.”

“Oh, well, I guess this works out, after all… So, when did you get in to Vegas?” He tried to engage her in some small talk to put them both at ease, and to get a feeling for her demeanor and character.

“I managed to catch the last flight out of L.A., since I missed my first flight.”

Dr. Robbins was confused, “And why was that?”

She sat back in the chair as she responded, “I had court yesterday, and it took longer than I anticipated, so I had some catching up to do in the morgue before I was able to leave for the long weekend. Fortunately, my boss has some friends at LAX and they pulled some strings to get me on that last flight.”

“Ah… Good to have a boss like that. And speaking of your boss, I had a very interesting conversation with him yesterday.” He was looking her directly in the eye when he spoke, “It’s not often that the head of the L.A. County Coroner’s Office takes such an interest in a rookie coroner, but he had some pretty high praise for your work there, and seemed genuinely disappointed at the prospect of your leaving.” She had not flinched, and appeared to be fairly pleased with his comments.

“I’ve learned a great deal working there, but my personal life dictates that I need to move to Las Vegas. Dr. Pratael has been a fantastic teacher and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with him for the last year. If circumstances were different, then I would probably have stayed in L.A. and continued working for him.” She was being somewhat cryptic with her answer.

He decided that he would try to get her to answer a direct question about her personal life, “And what circumstances are those?”

“Well, it might seem somewhat old-fashioned, but the fact is, my fiancé is a trauma surgeon and wasn’t able to match at any of the hospitals in L.A. for the final phase of his residency. So, when he matched out here, I knew that I had a hard choice to make. I held out for six months, but the fact is I didn’t enjoy my time away from him, and our work keeps us from having much free time for traveling back and forth. So, my only option was to move to Las Vegas, since I’m no longer bound by the matching system.” She was looking him directly in the eyes, and did not seem uncomfortable in sharing the very personal information.

“Sounds like a pretty good reason to me.” He turned to her medical school records from UCLA and looked over his notes from her advisor there, “I see here that you were offered a pretty substantial position at the UCLA Medical Center upon finishing your residency… What was your reasoning behind taking the lesser position at the L.A. County Coroner’s?”

“First off, I think that the superiority of the positions has more to do with perspective… But mostly, I would have to say that I didn’t get into pathology to be a clinical pathologist, as I’m far more interested in the practice of pathology and the field work that can be found in criminal pathology.” She pondered a moment before continuing, “And being stuck in a research facility with nothing but theory to be passionate about is just not a way I can live in a greater world… I suppose being a cop’s kid, gives you a different taste for life, and a whole different perspective on the way things work in this world.”

Dr. Robbins chuckled a little, “Well, you just beat me to my next question… Dr. Pratael told me your father was a detective. And I was wondering how that affected your decisions.”

“Well, my father was an Inspector, not a detective… Twenty two years with the San Francisco PD, and a good many of those as an Inspector with Major Cases.” She spoke with an immense amount of pride in her voice. “His life has an enormous impact on the choices I’ve made in my professional career. He was a great man, and had a fantastically analytical mind as well as gentle soul. I can only hope that he would be proud of the decisions I’ve made and my choice to follow, somewhat loosely, in his footsteps.”

Dr. Robbins turned that information over in his head a moment before asking his next question, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that he had passed… How long has it been?”

“It was a couple years ago, but he had enjoyed almost two years of retirement with my mother before he died peacefully in his sleep. Exactly the way he always wanted to go.” Her face took on a serenity with those words and that pleased Dr. Robbins. It was always good that anyone in his field had a healthy relationship with death.

“As every good cop dreams…” Giving that statement the proper amount of time to be cherished, he waited a moment before continuing his questions, “As I am sure you are aware, I also spoke with the head of pathology at UCLA, and she was extremely enthusiastic about your tenure there. You seem to instill a certain amount of admiration in your superiors. What do you attribute this to?”

That question actually got a reaction from her, “Wow… That’s the first time someone ever asked me that… Well, I guess the biggest thing would be my work ethic, and after that, I imagine it comes from my constant work to improve myself and my skills.” Solid answer, Dr. Robbins had to work harder if he was going to catch her off-guard.

“Very good…” He now switched over to her transcripts, “I see you started UC – Berkeley as a sophomore, and finished early. How did you pull that off?”

“Well, I went to two high schools so that I could take the maximum number of AP courses, and participate in the International Baccalaureate program, so I had a little bit of a head start.” The pride was once again evident in her voice.

The doctor, however, was stunned with her answer, “How on earth did you manage that one?”

“Well, I have an unbelievable thirst for knowledge, and a little bit of my father’s workaholic gene, so it was pretty hard to stop me. And believe me, my mother tried. I was in school from 6AM until 6PM every day of the week, and for a few hours on Saturday. Except during basketball season, when I was there until about 9PM.”

Dr. Robbins was shaking his head, “And that would explain the High School All-American Athlete Award and why you played basketball at UC- Berkeley for a year… Just how tall are you?” he asked with a bit of awe in his voice.

“Six foot four…” She chuckled at the manner in which he had asked the question, “But honestly it never phased me until I hit high school, because my parents were both fairly tall.”

“How tall were they?”

“Shorter than I ended up being… Mom was five ten/five eleven, depending on which way the mood struck her… And Pop was six foot two.”

The doctor decided to make a joke about his own height and infirmity, “I could be six foot, if I worked at it.”

“If you wanted to perform a balancing act twenty four/seven, maybe.” She noticed the somewhat shocked expression on his face and decided maybe she should not have continued the joke, “Sorry, I just assumed you were referring to your prosthetics.”

“Well, I was, but how did you know?” He was genuinely curious how she knew about his amputations.

“Well, I noticed when you walked in, and your gait pretty much says it all. You’ve had bi-lateral amputations, right?” She was being completely sincere in her admission.

“Well, yes I did.”

“And I didn’t notice any obvious signs of diabetes or peripheral circulatory disease, so I would assume it was an accident of some kind… Correct?” Her analysis was dead on, but he was at a loss as to how she would have guessed.

He decided that she must have done some research about him before arriving, “And where did you read about that? I don’t recall that being part of my general knowledge packet.”

“Well, it was just observation… I am the daughter of an Inspector, and he used to let me go through his case files. And when he and his friend would have a tough case, they would let me sit in on their brainstorming sessions, so I learned a lot from them growing up… I was pretty much raised to be a criminalist, but I was also looking for more of a challenge than straight investigative work. I needed the intricacies of medical science, as well as the stretching of my analytical mind to find fulfillment in my professional life. That would be why I chose this field of study.”

Dr. Robbins was thoroughly impressed with her ability to think on her feet, and from not over-reacting to his suggestion that she had tried to pull one over on him. “So, why are you interviewing at UNLV, if you are so committed to this field?”

“That’s easy… It would only be a temporary job, until I was able to get on somewhere as an M.E… The things we are willing to sacrifice for in the name of those we love can be a pretty surprising thing sometimes.” She had a sincerely content expression on her face, and that actually made him even more certain that he had found his replacement. This young woman truly had her head on straight, and that was something sorely needed for working the night shift around this place.

“Well, I was only concerned about one thing when I was going through your resume and references: the complete absence of personal references. Is there some reasoning behind that?” In his mind, this would be the final test of her personality.

“To be honest… I really didn’t want any of my personal affiliations to influence someone’s decision to hire me or not. I like to earn the things I accomplish based solely on my own merits.” Her frankness surprised him more than the answer itself.

“Well, that is one of the most intriguing answers I have ever heard, but I do respect your wish to base your selection on merit.”

“If it comes down to a matter of hiring me or not, I can provide you with some personal references, but I would prefer to make that disclosure after a decision has been made. I just don’t want it to be what people see first.” And that was exactly what he needed to hear.

Dr. Robbins had only one more question, but he had to come about it in a careful way, “Well, I know that the position at UNLV has better hours and more money, but I’m curious what your choice would be, if you were offered both positions.”

“I’ll be honest with you… I would drop UNLV right now, if I was offered the job here, even if it was only on a probationary basis.” She took a deep breath before continuing, “LVPD has one of the best municipal crime labs in the country. And being the daughter of a cop, I would have to be pretty hard pressed to go into F.B.I. service, so this is quite possibly my dream job.”

Dr. Robbins chose that moment to stand up from behind his desk and offered his hand to the young woman. She rose from her chair, towering over the man, and assumed that it signaled the interview was over. So, she was completely blown away by the words that came out of his mouth, “Then let me be the first to welcome you to the Las Vegas Police Department Crime Lab.”

She was totally speechless by his comment and stood there a moment holding his hand in her substantial one. “Um… I’m sorry, did you mean that I got the job?”

“For someone who graduated with honors from two rather exceptional schools, you should probably understand that sentence a lot better.” Dr. Robbins started laughing as she began to shake his hand vigorously. “Congratulations, Dr. MacInnerney… I could keep looking for someone to fill this position and not find someone even half as perfect a fit as you are for the job… You have the skills, the knowledge, the sense of humor and the personal stability needed to succeed in this field, and especially in this lab. I see no reason to keep looking when I have the chance to steal you away from Poletano before he even gets to meet you and promises you the world to keep you from coming back here.”

The young woman was overcome with joy, but she was finally able to speak her mind, “Thank you very much, Dr. Robbins… You have absolutely no idea how happy you’ve just made me. I mean really… I thought this job was a shot in a million for someone with my limited experience, and I would have practically worked for free to convince you to hire me.”

“Well, it’s a good thing our assistant director didn’t hear you say that, because he would have taken you up on it.” That was when Dr. Robbins’ office door swung open, and Grissom barged in, “Well, thanks for knocking, but you do have impeccable timing… I’d like you to meet our new night shift coroner.” She turned around, based on Robbins’ gestures and was just as dumbstruck as Grissom when their eyes met. When they did not speak or move for a more than a minute, Dr. Robbins decided to break the stalemate. “I take it you two know each other?”

The young woman was finally able to break their stare, reached down into her briefcase and handed Dr. Robbins a sheet of paper, “I think this might help explain.”

Dr. Robbins looked at the sheet to discover that it was those missing personal references, and at the top of the list was Dr. Gilbert Grissom; relationship, family.

Grissom was finally able to shake himself from the shock of seeing her here in Las Vegas, and realized that Dr. Robbins had just said she was the new coroner, “Steph,” he gestured widly for a moment around him, “What are you doing in Vegas? What happened in L.A.?”

“Nothing happened in L.A… Or, at least nothing was going to happen there. You see, Thomas matched at Desert Palms, and I got tired of living alone…” She paused for a moment and then went immediately on the defensive, “I swear I was gonna call you tonight after the interviews were done and you were awake…” She appeared very nervous talking to Grissom, “I just didn’t want to say anything until I knew I’d be moving, Uncle Gil.”

And there was Dr. Robbins’ answer; Gil Grissom was her uncle. He looked between the two of them and could not find any resemblance, other than that they were both tall, but their builds were completely different. Grissom had a solid frame to go with his, and a little of that middle aged girth that he himself had experienced. But Dr. MacInnerney had a very trim build, despite her broad shoulders, and her hair, though curly, held none of the same properties of Grissom’s, especially the rich auburn color. She also had the deepest green eyes he had ever seen before. Grissom’s blue eyes might have been striking, but the color was no where near as deep as hers were, and Dr. Robbins wondered how they could possibly be related by blood.

Suddenly awakened from his stupor, Grissom quickly moved in to embrace the young woman, “I just talked to your Mom last weekend, and she didn’t say a word about this.” When he caught Dr. Robbins incredulous look, he just gave him that infamous, “oh well” expression and then held her at arms’ length to get a better look at her.

“That’s because she doesn’t know just yet… I wanted to be sure about the move before I told her… But knowing Mom, she’s probably been suspecting as much since Thomas matched six months ago.” They both laughed at her supposition.

“Hey, wait a sec… You just hired her?” He looked back at Dr. Robbins.

“Are you kidding? She’s far and away the best person who applied for the position… And now that I know how she figured out about my legs, I’d offer her the moon not to reconsider… After all, she’d have to put up with you on night shift.” He looked around Grissom to catch the young woman’s eye again, “Are you sure this is still your dream job?”

She laughed out loud that time, “Are you kidding?! I’ve dreamed of working with Uncle Gil and my father since I was a little girl… At least I got half my wish.” Grissom squeezed her hand at the mention of his longtime friend and mentor, as well as her father.

“Well, then you got it…” Dr. Robbins turned his gaze back at Grissom, “But I thought you were an only child, Gil?”

“Oh, I am… Stephanie’s father was a very good friend, and a mentor. He and I worked together on a number of tough cases when I was in San Francisco. Best Inspector in the history of the SFPD, and my best friend. No, I’m actually Stephanie’s godfather. Uncle Gil was just much easier to say for a three year old with a serious lisp.” The young woman elbowed him for his jibe and he feigned injury for it.

Dr. Robbins shook his head as he chuckled, “And I was wondering why she didn’t want to give me her personal references… Probably because she thought I would assume she was just as difficult as you are.” Dr. Robbins reached down and grabbed his bag, fumbling for his cell phone, “And if you don’t mind, my dear, I’d love to break the news to Poletano myself, before Gil and I take you out for a congratulatory lunch?” She nodded her agreement to him as he dialed the number. “Tony?... Yeah, it’s Al Robbins… Yeah, actually I was calling to give you some bad news… I understand you guys are trying to get a new clinical pathologist over there… Well, these things leak out, somehow… Well, I was just calling to let you know that you better keep looking… Didn’t you have a promising interview this afternoon?... I have my sources… Yes, I am looking for a replacement over here. Well, I was anyway… Found her this morning… Young gun from the L.A. County Coroner’s Office… You, too? Really? What was her name?... What do you mean, ‘how do I know it was a woman?’… Yep, that’s the one… You can cancel that appointment, Tony… You can disparage my mother all you want, but you should know better than to not schedule your interviews in the morning around this town… Right, we’ll talk it over at the next alumni party… Have a great day, Tony.” He turned back to the pair with his bag in hand and a devilish grin spreading across his face, “I just love sticking it to that guy.”

Chapter 5

With most of the usual suspects seated at the break room table, they were just killing time until their fearless leaders arrived with tonight’s assignments. Everyone had managed to get through the turmoil of last week unscathed, but Sunday nights always seemed to bring out the bigger cases, and the weirder cases. Nick was just about to start in on his strangest Sunday case when Catherine came walking into the break room carrying the assignment slips. The thing that struck everyone was that she was alone.

They all looked behind her with the expectation of Grissom being right there on her heels when she turned around to see what they were looking at she said, “What?”

Warrick took point on this one, “Ah, we were just waitin’ for Gris… Where is he?”

“Personal matter.” She had gone back to flipping through the slips of paper, and did not even look up when she spoke, “He’ll be in the lab later on… But in the meantime, we have some scenes to take care of.”

Nick was unable to resist, “Since when does Grissom do ‘personal?’”

The group laughed it off, but Catherine noticed that Sara was visibly unsettled by the information. She decided to glaze over it in order to spare her the embarrassment. “Yeah, yeah… Catches up to all of us now and then, I guess…” Catherine looked around the room and tried to spot their lab rat turned CSI, Greg Sanders. “Where’s Greg?” She gave them her patented tilt of the head to indicate her irritation.

Just as she was about to go off, Sanders came sliding into the room, “Sorry, sorry, sorry… Got stuck in Trace, and Hodges just would NOT lay off about that hottie he saw Super Dave with the other day. I think the creep is obsessed or something.” Greg quickly took his seat between Sara and Nick, hoping the repercussions of his lateness would not be too severe, he quickly remembered to give Catherine a quick glance of the puppy dog eyes he was so good at giving.

“Greg, since you have such an affection for the lab right now, why don’t you take the supply room and get it organized. Grissom has that on his list of slow night duties.” Obviously, Catherine had built up an immunity to that trick, and Greg slumped down in his chair. “Nick you’ve got a B&E at a warehouse out by McCarran, so remember to vest up… ‘Rick, you’ve got the shoot out over in your old stomping grounds… PD requested you specifically, so I imagine the scene is a little hot.” Shuffling through to the last assignment, she looked up at Sara, “Since Grissom is on paperwork duty tonight, it looks like you and me are taking the possible double all the way out at the L.V. Motor Speedway.” She looked around the room, and saw that everyone was ready, “Any questions?” When she saw that there were none, “All right then, let’s get to it, and get back here safe.”

Everyone packed up and headed out to their respective crime scenes, that is, everyone but Greg Sanders. He was walking dejectedly off to the Supply Room to get started on his punishment for the night. He decided that he was going to have to get Hodges back for this. That guy just gets on my nerves… What a weenie!

Sara was standing outside in the parking lot, waiting for Catherine to finish talking to one of the detectives before they left for their crime scene. She was still a little disappointed to hear that Grissom was having a personal life. He had been acting awfully strange lately, what with taking nights off and disappearing twice in one week. Before she could ponder it any longer, Catherine walked up and threw the keys to the Denali at her, “You drive, I have some calls to make.”

Sara just shook her head and turned to get in on the driver’s side, “Right… Benefits of seniority?”

Catherine was quick to join the taunting, “Benefits of Superiority.” She shot Sara one of those dangerous looks, but punctuated it with a raised eyebrow, letting the younger woman know she was just pulling her chain. “Come on, let’s hit the road. I want to get back in time to give Greg a little more grief.” This time they both laughed as the Denali pulled away from the parking lot.

As they merged onto I-15 northbound from I-515 and headed out to the Speedway, Sara decided to break the silence that followed Catherine’s phone calls, “Are they still working on Fifteen North of Craig Rd?”

Catherine looked up from the report she was flipping through and surveyed the road in front of them, “Ah, no, they finished that project last month… Now they have Losee closed off to fix the mess they made when they diverted the traffic. Makes it a real joy for me getting past all the extra side road traffic to make it in to work every night.”

Sara decided to keep up the small talk a while longer, “I can imagine… I had the same trouble when they were working on the Vegas Expressway.”

“Oh yeah, that was a real nightmare…” Catherine put away her report and looked at Sara a while before she decided to bust her, “So, are we done with the small talk yet? Or do you have some weather material you want to try before you get around to asking me about Gil?”

Sara visibly winced at Catherine’s definitive questioning skills. “That obvious, huh?”

“C’mon… Traffic reports? Honey, you’re gonna have to do a lot better than that with me.” Catherine just chuckled at Sara’s feeble attempt of subterfuge.

“Yeah, it was kind of a stretch… I don’t know, it just seems he’s been acting out of the norm lately… Do you have any idea what’s up?” Sara was hoping it would appear as general concern and not the suspicious inquiry it really was.

“I know he was pretty thrown with all the stuff that happened with Nicky. And mentioned something about trying to get his life back on track or some crap… But as for tonight, he had to get someone to the airport kind of last minute. So, no big deal on that one. Just being Grissom.”

“Why does that always sound like a big deal?” Sara was not sure she had said those words out loud. Not until she heard Catherine laugh.

“Because it’s Grissom!”

Chapter 6

Grissom’s black Denali was driving past the UNLV campus on its way to make an unscheduled pickup from one of those quaint little townhomes just east of the Desert Palms Hospital. When she had called and gave him the address, he was actually surprised to discover just how close she was going to be living to him in a few short weeks.

His goddaughter would be living within close proximity to the man who felt like he was mostly without family. And she was most definitely his family. He had known Stephanie since she was a toddler, barely out of diapers and already as smart as a whip. When her father had first introduced him to his beloved daughter, he had called him “Dr. Grissom.” When she spoke her first words to him, he was unable to refrain from laughing at her obvious difficulty in saying his last name. Her lisp made it all but unintelligible, but her tiny little face was determined to get the word out. And when she scrunched up those emerald green eyes, to spit it out, one way or the other, Gil actually laughed out loud. The little girl, however, was not so amused. Her face was turning as red as her Shirley Templesque curly hair. That was when her mother came to the rescue, and proclaimed that seeing as he was the reason her father was absent most of the time, that she might as well call him “Uncle Gil.” The name had stuck, and before long, Gil actually felt like her uncle. It was no time before he was over for Sunday dinner every week, and was treated to the same questioning nature of this astoundingly inquisitive little girl. At her fourth birthday party, “Uncle Gil” got her a children’s book on identifying the different kinds of bugs. He was surprised and delighted to discover the following Sunday that she had collected nearly every bug in the book and had them separated in little baggies and was, not so patiently, waiting for his arrival so that he could show her, as her father had promised, how to mount her new collection. She was, in essence, his first pupil. Absorbing everything he told her like a sponge, he soon learned that those “age appropriate” books were simply not going to hold her attention any longer. By the time she had started first grade at the age of five, she was attempting to read some secondary school text books alongside her “Uncle Gil.” By the second grade, she was learning high school biology, and had started reading poetry after “Uncle Gil” had read to her from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for her bedtime story. When she entered the ninth grade, about the time Gil was leaving for Las Vegas, she was already two grades ahead of the other children her age, having read nearly every piece of classic literature available, knowing more about biology and chemistry than the teachers at her high school and having a very observant eye, as well as a highly analytical mind. She had taken to sitting in on her father’s brainstorming sessions with Gil when they were working on particularly hard cases, and would run evidence with them, as well as working on theories. It was at that point that he and her father had started a bet about what her future career would be. Gil was convinced that she would be the head of surgery at a major hospital, and her father was sure she would be the first female Chief Inspector. And as usual, she was far exceeding both of their expectations.

When he pulled up in front of the address he had scribbled down on the piece of paper sitting on his dashboard, he took a moment to put a final note on his thoughts. Not only had she exceeded their expectations of her, but she had far exceeded their own lives. This girl had done everything she set out to do without fear and without regret. They had given her that ability, through their own bad examples. She grabbed life with both hands and fought for everything she wanted to do and be and was unapologetic for all of it. He did not think he would have given up everything to follow his heart as she had done with her planned move to Las Vegas. She made those plans without any certainty that she would ever be able to work as a medical examiner again, purely because she had given her heart to that kid. That kid, he thought, was probably the luckiest man on the planet, because he had what Gil had never been brave enough to risk.

Just as his thoughts were threatening to take him to a place that he was usually afraid to go, there was a sudden knock on his passenger window that made him jump enough to hit his head and elicit a hearty laugh from the young woman on the other side of the glass that he had just started to lower. “Sorry, Uncle Gil… I didn’t realize you were so deep in thought.” She opened the door to the car and tossed her garment and overnight bags into the backseat before hopping into the SUV and reaching for her buckle.

“That’s okay… But let’s say we avoid trying to give the old man his first heart-attack before the age of fifty, shall we?” Gil put the Denali back into gear and backed out of the parking space with the young woman shaking her head at him.

“Please! You are not even close to old yet.” She turned back to face him as he navigated the SUV onto the street and pulled away from the townhouse. “Mom still calls you ‘The Kid.’ So you must be doing something right.”

“She got that from your father… Elizabeth is barely older than I am.” Gil was finding their banter very familiar and terribly comfortable.

“Not true… Mom had her sixtieth last year, so she’s got what; twelve or thirteen years on you?” She had her face scrunched up into that childlike expression that Gil remembered from all those years ago as she tried to wriggle the answer from him.

“You might be like your father in a lot of ways, but you do not have his interrogation skills, kiddo.” They both laughed her attempt to get his age out of him.

“Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying…” She reached behind her to retrieve an envelope from her bag, “I’m flying out on United. And thanks again for helping out on such short notice. Thomas got called in to surgery after some kind of gang shooting broke out and the hospital got hit with six en route.”

“Anytime, Princess…” Gil just realized that he had called her by the pet name they had for her when she was just a little girl, and he prepared for the berating he was sure would follow. However, when he dared to look over at her, she had a very contented expression on her face, but her stare seemed to be a million miles away. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just haven’t heard that one in a long time… Not since the last weekend I spent with Mom and Pop.” Gil was sorry that he had brought up the memory with his slip of the tongue, “Pop did the same thing you did… Slipped and called me ‘Princess,’ and for the first time since I had ‘grown up’ I wasn’t mad about it. It felt pretty good actually.” She just leaned her head against the glass and continued to look out the window into the nothingness. After a few minutes of silent driving, she turned to him and a smile spread across her face, “But if you use that name at work, I’m going to have to kill you… You know that, right?”

Then it was Gil’s turn to smile, “Oh yeah… You do have your father’s temper, and I never tempted that fate, so there’s no sense in starting to live dangerously now.” The two enjoyed the private joke that they shared and the rest of the trip to the airport was uneventful.

He stopped out in front of the United door and took her bags out of the SUV before he pulled her into his arms for a departing hug. As she pulled away, she placed a kiss upon his cheek and tugged at his beard a little, “Mom was right, Uncle Gil… The beard does make you look like a professor.”

“Is that a clever way of saying ‘older?’”

“Not at all… Smarter.” They both laughed again. She bent down to grab her bags, “Hey Uncle Gil… Do you think it would be okay if we kept the whole relationship thing quiet at first?”

He raised his eyebrow at her with that sly questioning look, “And the purpose of this would be?”

She shifted a little uneasily before she answered, “Well, I don’t want anyone treating me differently because of who I am to you… I have this thing about standing on my own two feet, ya know.”

He smirked at her answer, “Oh yeah… I know all about that one… Your father was furious when you turned down the admission to Stanford. If it wasn’t for your mother intervening, you’d have been in a lot of trouble, young lady.”

“Hey, how could I expect to get a fair break getting a science degree at a school where your mother is a tenured department head?”

He just nodded his head, “I understand… And I will keep it under my hat until you give me the high sign. Fair enough?”

She dropped her bags again and gave him a big hug this time, “Thanks, Uncle Gil… It really means a lot to me. I mean, it’s bad enough Dr. Robbins already knows. I’ve already got some high expectations to live up to as it is.”

“You’ll be fine… And remember, if you change your mind, the offer to help you drive back still stands. It’s a long boring drive and it is best done as a team.” He gave her what he assumed was a fatherly glance, and hoped it would be well received.

“Not a problem… Thomas is flying out to help me pack and drive back to Vegas. It’s all under control.” Her smile was infectious and he flashed his own back at her before she grabbed her bags again and waved at him as she started for the terminal.

Now all he had left to do was wait two weeks… He was good at waiting…

Chapter 7

She had spent three hours that day filling out more forms and surveys and legal documents and releases of information and applications for insurances than she had ever dreamed existed. Surely, after all of that, she knew that a tree had died in order for her to get her dream job. When she handed the mound of paperwork over to the personnel clerk, Dr. Stephanie MacInnerney knew she was taking a monstrous step towards her new life. After that historical moment, she stopped at the store and got herself a fruit bowl to take home: the home she now shared with her fiancé. She had wanted to get a little unpacking done before Thomas woke up and they were able to spend just a little more time together before she had to be on duty for her first shift in the morgue. She was still dealing with the after affects of six and a half months of isolation from the man she loved, and it would still be a while before they had made up for lost time.

When she arrived at CSI headquarters that evening, she was really starting to feel the butterflies and she was ready to get it all over with quickly. She needed to make her reputation fast in this place, because she was actually going to be working with her ghost here. At least with the L.A. County Coroner’s she had a little distance from her father’s reputation, and her name gave her plenty of distance from good old Uncle Gil as well. But here in the same lab in which he worked, it was only going to be a matter of time before her secret got out.

After getting her orientation speech from Dr. Robbins, and she got the full tour of the morgue. it was time for her to get familiar with her surroundings. She had immediately changed into the scrubs that David had pre-ordered for her; extra large and extra tall, just the right size. But it was when she slipped on that blue lab coat with her last name embroidered on one side and Las Vegas PD Crime Lab on the other side that she truly felt like this whole thing was not a dream. She sat down on the stool beside the metal table in the autopsy room and was busy looking through the procedural guide.

That was how CSI Nick Stokes found her in the morgue. And without even realizing what he was doing, he whistled. Not one of those casual whistles, but the kind of crude thing you heard when a pretty girl walked by a construction site. As soon as the auburn haired beauty in the lab coat turned to the source of the lewd whistle he knew he was doomed, and his face showed every ounce of his shame. “I know things are a lot more relaxed in Las Vegas, but I can’t imagine they just forgot about sexual harassment legislation.” Her carefully raised eyebrow told him he was so busted.

“Hey, I’m real sorry… I swear that was so not intentional.” Nick was failing miserably, and his face was now turning about fifty shades of red from his total embarrassment.

Sensing that the man before her had been sufficiently mortified by his own act, she decided to give him a break, “Right… And I suppose you’ve never done anything like that before, too.” She gave him one more disapproving glance before she turned back to her manual, “So, why are you down here?”

The voice that responded was decidedly feminine, “Because he was looking for an autopsy report… And you are?” When Stephanie turned back around, she found an older woman with strawberry blonde hair standing with her hand on her cocked hip and a serious case of attitude on her face.

“The one who put Dr. Robbins’ reports in the boxes of the people they belonged to after he went home for a little while.” As she finished speaking she stood up. Sometimes, her height gave her a serious advantage, as it was doing while she watched both of the CSI’s follow her ascent with their stares. “And you are?”

Catherine decided that maybe she should take a different tack with this woman, “Well, I would be Supervisor Catherine Willows, and you still haven’t answered my question.”

“Good to meet you, Catherine… Dr. Robbins had some good things to say about you.” Stephanie was holding out for just a while longer, but she did offer her hand to the woman. As they shook hands, she looked in Nick’s direction, “I’m surprised you still have those tendencies with a female supervisor, Mr-?”

The blush had quickly returned to Nick’s face, and he looked at Catherine for reassurance, but found that accusatory stare of hers and was now desperate to escape the morgue at all costs, “Completely Embarrassed and Wanting to Take a Bullet Now.”

Stephanie then extended her hand to Nick, “Wow, your parents must have really wanted a puppy.” Catherine was unable to contain the laugh that escaped her lips and Nick began to shrink back from the two, realizing he was now the brunt of a joke. His only consolation came from the fact that it would appear as though this new woman in the morgue was not really going to nail him for the whistle screw up. He shook her hand and his head.

“Hey, I really am sorry about that before… I guess my libido overrode my brain on that one. And I’m Nick, Nick Stokes.” He was still blushing, but it confirmed Stephanie’s suspicions that it had been an innocent mistake.

“No problem, Nick. But I have two tips for you… One, I have excellent hearing, and two, I also read lips. So, I would suggest saving any comments regarding my anatomy to be said far away from me.” Nick was taken aback by her comment and gave Catherine a look that showed his confusion and shock.

Catherine, sensing the joke, played along, “Nicky, do we need to have an appropriate behavior in the workplace lecture?”

“I swear, Cath, it was nothing like that, honest!” When the two women looked at each other, they were unable to keep the joke going any longer and burst out laughing. “Oh, okay… I get it: teach the idiot boy a lesson, huh?”

“Sorry, Nicky, but it sounded like you needed it.” Catherine turned back to Stephanie, “I would have to say that you are probably our new coroner, right?”

Still laughing, she tried to answer, “That would be correct. Stephanie MacInnerney. It’s really nice to meet you Catherine… Al and Gil had lots of great things to say about you, so I’ve been looking forward to this.”

Catherine looked a little surprised, “So, you’ve seen Gil already?”

“Ah, yeah…” That was her first slip up, and she had to recover fast, “He and Al took me out to lunch when I was out here for my interview.” She managed to pull that one off pretty easy, without further incident, but Stephanie knew she would need to be very careful around this woman if she was going to keep her secret safe.

Nick was still trying to recover from his shameful introduction to the new coroner, “So, is it doctor, Stephanie, or what?”

“Well, I’ve been called many things in my lifetime, but mostly it’s just Stephanie. My age tends to make it hard for me to pull off the whole title thing.” Stephanie was hoping that he did not put her height and name together for the inevitable nickname she had been running from for years. She would be really glad when she got married so she could drop that last name.

“Thank God! I was really hoping you didn’t look that good in your thirties.” Catherine’s outburst made her laugh a little.

“Nope, still working up to that milestone… In about three and half years.”

That information was just too good for Nick to pass up, “Damn, girl… You’re already an ME and you’re only twenty six?!” His Texas was showing through with that statement.

“I’m afraid I was one of those kids everyone hated growing up. And the overachieving thing just never seemed to leave me.” Stephanie noticed that they were both looking at her with curious expressions on their faces.

“Well, you should fit right in with this bunch… With the exception of me, I would say that describes every single member of this team.” For Catherine, that was a supreme compliment.

Nick was busy trying to gauge her height and then something in his brain clicked when he got to the name embroidered on her lab coat. “Hey! I just thoug-.”

He was pointing at her name and she knew exactly what he was going to say before it ever came out of his mouth, so she cut him off, “Don’t even go there, Cowboy… That name is reserved for my father, and I will not be happy if I hear it’s gotten around.”

Catherine, being Catherine, suddenly had an epiphany. “Hey Nicky, why don’t you go and get those reports from our boxes and I’ll meet you in the break room for assignments, okay?”

Nick looked from one woman to the other and shrugged, “Sure, Cath… See ya up there.”

Catherine watched him leave the autopsy room and waited until she was certain he was sufficiently out of range of their conversation before she started. When she turned around to the striking young woman beside her, she dropped her bombshell, “So, why hide your relationship to Grissom?”

This time it was Stephanie’s turn to blanche, “I ah, um, I, well…” She took a deep breath and realized that she was completely busted this time, “Well, that lasted all of half a day.”

Catherine gave her a puzzled expression, “Excuse me?”

“Sorry, I figured I had at least two weeks before it would get out… What tipped you off?” Stephanie returned to sitting on her stool.

“Well, the nickname actually… I recognized it.” Catherine shrugged off her question.

“You knew my father?” It was Stephanie who was confused this time.

“Only by reputation… And hearing Gil talk about his buddy back in San Fran. He really admired ‘Big Mac’ MacInnerney.” Catherine showed her the tell that got her busted.

“Right… I should have known Uncle Gil would have told YOU about Pop… Sorry, but I know about you from reputation, too.” She pulled the other stool over for Catherine to take a seat. “Look, I don’t suppose I can convince you not to rat me out, can I?”

Catherine thought about it a moment, “That would depend on why you’re trying to keep it a secret, I guess… Why are you guys hiding your relationship?”

“Well, I have this pathological need to prove myself… I gave up a full scholarship to a college just because my mother was a professor there… Moved to L.A. for Med School to get away from my father’s reputation. I even thought about using my mother’s maiden name when I decided to go into this field to outrun the comparisons.” She looked into Catherine’s eyes to make one last plea, “Hell, I would’ve never come to Las Vegas if it wasn’t for my fiancé getting into such a tough field of surgery. He didn’t match to anywhere in L.A., and Desert Palms was his best match. I even tried to fight it for six months, staying with the L.A. County Coroner’s Office and hoping he’d be back in another year. When it became obvious that wasn’t working, I put in my notice and started looking for pathology jobs out here.”

Catherine chuckled a little, “Well, it looks like your stubbornness paid off… You came out at the perfect time to get this job.”

“No kidding! Nothing like living your dreams… I’ve wanted to work with my Pop and Uncle Gil since I was a little girl. But what is that saying?” She looked into Catherine’s eyes again.

“’Be careful what you wish for, little girl; for you may surely get it.’” They both laughed that time, and Catherine laid a hand on the younger woman’s shoulder as she stood up to leave, “Don’t worry, honey… They won’t hear about it from me, I swear.” She gave her that motherly smile, and Stephanie knew she would keep her word.

“Thanks, I really appreciate that, Catherine.” And with those words, they had formed a bond.

Chapter 8

Everyone was sitting around the break room table for another round of assignments. Greg was even the first one there. After his sentence to the Supply Room, he had not been late for a single shift. They were all patiently waiting for Catherine and Grissom to arrive.

Grissom was still in his office and looking at his watch. Catherine was late, and he was getting ready to hand out the assignments without her. He gathered up the slips and his clipboard and made his way to the office door. He looked down the hall in either direction, hoping to see Catherine, but it was no use, so he headed off to the break room.

He had a lot on his mind tonight, and he just wanted to sit in his office and out of the line of fire, but as he went through the slips once more, he knew he would have to work a scene tonight. There was only one way to get through this night; do it as quickly as possible and hope for the best.

All eyes were on him when he entered the break room with his nose in his notes, “Warrick, you’ve got a possible suicide at the Golden Palace.” He handed the younger man his slip, “Nick, B&E in Spring Valley.” He held out the slip, but Nick had something to say.

“What? Am I the B&E King lately, or what?” He was obviously frustrated.

Grissom looked at him from over the top of his glasses, “As a matter of fact, yes… Take Greg with you and let him run the scene… You’re supervising tonight.” He moved his gaze to Greg when Nick proudly took the slip from his grasp. “And Greg, this is part of your next evaluation, so-.”

“I know, no screwing around… By the book, all the way… Got it.” Greg was now under the gun and it showed on his face.

Grissom returned his nose to the notes, not looking up as he put his hand out towards Sara with her assignment slip, “Sara, a smash and grab on the Strip. Shouldn’t take long, so you’ll be on standby the rest of the night.” He did not look at her, but continued going through his notes. Several moments passed and it vaguely dawned on him that it was awfully quiet in there. He looked up from his notes and around the room, finding only blank faces, so he figured that they were waiting for something from him.

Just before he dismissed everyone, Catherine sauntered into the room and was looking over his shoulder. He gave her a disapproving glance and then turned back to the team, “If there aren’t any questions, then move out.” Everyone pulled out from the table, gathered up their belongings and headed out of the room.

He waited for all of them to be out of the room before talking to Catherine. “Having fun?”

“Sorry, I got caught up in a new case… What’s left?” She was not going to let on that she knew his little secret… Not just yet, anyway.

“Well, the DA would like you to do some follow up on the Speedway case.” He handed her the slip and a note with it, detailing what they needed. “Go along with Sara and help her get the smash & grab put away, and then take her out there with you.” This task elicited a raise of her eyebrow.

“So, am I being supervised tonight?”

“No, that’s not it, Cath.” Grissom was being sincere.

“Are you on paper detail?” Even with his sincerity, she was still suspicious.

“No… I have to handle a scene… Death with suspicious circumstances, over at the Pike.” Grissom’s smirk told her everything.

“Right… Well, tell Dad I said ‘Hi.’” She hoisted her bag onto her shoulder, “I’ll be taking the long way out to the smash and grab then, just to make sure I’m not seen near his place.” Catherine knew that her newly public relationship with Sam Braun would affect her job eventually, but she still hated it. Dear Old Dad had too much real estate in this town for it not to affect the job.

Grissom watched her leave and felt a little guilty about having to exclude her from the case, but in order to maintain the integrity of the lab, he had no choice.

He grabbed his kit from his office on his way out to the parking lot, but was stopped abruptly by Sara as he exited the building, “Grissom, I don’t appreciate being handled… If you have a problem with my work, I expect you to come out and tell me.” The anger in her voice was a match for what he saw playing on her face, but he had no idea where it was coming from this time.

He shook his head in confusion as he spoke, “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t need Catherine to babysit me!” She set her jaw with her statement and Grissom could see the muscles in her temples twitch with the action.

“Who said she was?” He was totally confused, and wondered what on earth could make her think that was what he was doing.

“She just told me she’s coming along for the smash and grab and having me help her do some follow up for the DA’s office… What else am I supposed to believe?”

He took the same posture as before when he answered her, and just shook his head a little when he spoke, “That I have to keep her busy while I run a scene at the Pike, and keep her out of the loop because of a conflict of interest? I shouldn’t have to tell you how important maintaining the integrity of the lab is, Sara.” Sara’s face instantly flushed with his answer, but Grissom was still as confused as ever.

“I ah… I’m… Look, I… Okay…” She was completely flustered and could not think of a single thing to say to get out of it. She searched her mind for something; anything to respond intelligently to something that she clearly should have seen. But all the color drained out of her face when she saw Catherine walking towards them, and in a panic she just turned away and said, “I’m sorry,” so that he could not see the pain in her eyes.

She quickly walked away, leaving him to speak with Catherine, who had stopped to figure out what his dumbfounded expression was about, “Gil, are you trying to catch flies with that look?”

He snapped back to reality and answered with nothing more than, “Huh?”

Catherine just shook her head and laughed, “Nevermind… Must have been Sara.” And with that she walked away chuckling to herself.

The only thought that crossed Grissom’s mind was “I will never understand the female of the species.”

Chapter 9

The boys were sitting around the break room table, each with their paperwork in front of them, diligently working away the rest of the shift. For a change, they were experiencing a slow night. Each of them had gotten back from their scenes with minimal effort and all but Grissom had put their cases to bed already. Grissom was safely away from this room though, and so as boys are known to do, they were trading stories.

As Greg was relating a tale from his most recent trip to the clubs, Warrick sat with his head down and a cat-bird look on his face, only smirking from time to time to show Greg that he was paying attention to his little story. Once Greg had finished regaling them with his dance floor antics, his curiosity had gotten the better of him. “Hey War… What’s that look for, man?” He nudged Nick when he spoke to show him the cagey look on Warrick’s face.

“Yeah, Bro… Yer bein’ awful quiet tonight. Wha’cha got cookin’, man?” Nick was now curious too.

Warrick looked up from his report and raised his eyebrow at them both, “Not as much as you got, Bro.”

His cryptic response was directed at Nick, and he had no idea why, so he pressed for more information, “C’mon… What’s that about?”

Warrick looked back down at his report before he started speaking, “Oh nothing… I just had a real interesting conversation down in autopsy.” All the blood left Nick’s face with his friend’s statement. “Yeah, thought you might know ‘bout that one, buddy.” Warrick was laughing now, that deep, resonating laugh that could be felt more than heard by many people.

Greg’s curiosity was in overdrive now, “Oh, no you don’t… You gotta spill now, Warrick.”

“Spill what?” Catherine and Sara had just walked into the break room and Catherine made her way straight for the coffee pot. Reached over for her cup and then started to pour the brown liquid of life as she turned around, “Oh wait, from your silence, am I to assume you boys are having a little ‘guy talk?’” She looked at each of their faces, and although Nick and Greg both looked like deer caught in the headlights (a familiar sight for Nick today), Warrick’s expression was the most intriguing to her. He looked like he had a juicy secret and it was just busting to be told. “Warrick, anything you’d like share with the class?”

Sara, too, caught on to Catherine’s suspicions and joined in on the assault, “Yeah, War’… I’d be interested to know what has given you that evil glint in your eyes.”

He leaned back in his seat and raised his hands in a sign of surrender, “No evil at all, ladies… Just heard a real interesting story about our boy Nicky down in autopsy.”

Catherine laughed right out loud that time, and turned back to put the coffee pot down, “Oh, I think I already know this story.”

That was just a little more than Sara could pass up, “Oh, no. Now you better start talking… I gotta hear this one.” Sara sat down and crossed her arms over her chest to show that she was not going to budge on this one.

Nick shrunk back in defeat and Warrick just chuckled, “Sorry, Bro, but I just gotta do you bad this time.” Warrick returned to his forward position in his seat before starting, “You see… Seems Ole’ Nicky Boy managed to stick his foot in his mouth all the up to his hip socket before shift tonight.” He looked around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention, “Anybody else been down to autopsy tonight?”

The all shook their heads, but Sara was the one to speak up, “You and Grissom are the only ones with DB’s tonight.”

He nodded his head when he realized his mistake, “Right, so you guys knew that Doc Robbins was moving to days, right?” He waited for their nods before continuing, “Anyway, the new ME started tonight… And let me tell you, I can understand why my boy lost it down there, but the way he lost it was classic.”

Greg interrupted, “Who’s the new ME?”

Nick decided he might as well join in since he was going to be heckled no matter what now, “You remember that hottie that was getting the tour a couple weeks ago?”

“The one in Archie’s surveillance vids?” Greg leaned even further forward in his chair with his anticipation.

“Bingo… Well, those vids ain’t even in the same ballpark as the real deal, my man.” Nick leaned back, knowing that was his only argument for his actions, so he might as well sit back and enjoy the ride of his ridicule.

Greg was thoroughly impressed, and Warrick decided to push forward in his tale, “So anyway, seems Nicky Boy was unable to contain himself when he saw the new ME and pulled a construction style wolf-whistle at the honey.”

“Ohhhhhhhh!” Everyone in the room groaned out loud as Nick just cringed in his seat.

“I don’t know where my brain was, guys… It just came out of my mouth before I even realized it.” Nick was, once again, turning fifty shades of red.

“Sounds like typical male behavior to me, Nicky.” Detective Jim Brass was standing in the doorway to the break room and leaning against the door jam with his arms folded over his chest. He had obviously heard the whole story, so Nick was sure the entire department would know about his little escapade before long.

Warrick was the first to address the man, “Hey, Brass… Have you met the new ME, yet, man?”

“No, I can’t say as I’ve had the pleasure.”

Warrick shook his head, “Well, she knows about you, man… Came out from L.A., and I guess she knows your Lady Captain friend.”

Jim nodded his head and shrugged it off, “I can see that… Guess I’ll have to pay my respects.” He turned to leave, but then turned back to the room, “’Respects’, Nicky… Not cat calls.” And with a sly wink of his eye, he was headed down the hall and left the break room in another fit of laughter.

Nick was just going to have to resign himself to being the brunt of their jokes for a while. There was no way they were going to let this one lie anytime soon.

Chapter 10

For a week that had started out so well, it was not ending up that way. Stephanie had just posted her seventh body of the night, plus she had changed into her third set of scrubs and it was not over yet. She was just about to sit down at her desk to finally eat her salad when she leaned forward and reached over the desk for the notes from the last case to read over while she ate. And before she knew it, there was a loud clang on the tile floor. She closed her eyes tightly and winced, because she just knew that had to have been her salad hitting the floor and flying all over the place.

“Dammit!” She let out a huge sigh, dropping the report back on her desk and planting her elbow down so that she could properly grip her brow while she tried to fight back the urge to throw something: something heavy and loud.

“It can’t possibly be that bad.” Catherine said as she entered the young woman’s office, and then she looked down at the mess, “Or I could be wrong… Need a little help?” Catherine bent down to retrieve the bowl from her side of the desk.

Stephanie reached over for the trash can and brought it to the other side as she kneeled down on the floor to clean up the spillage, “Sorry, it’s just been one of those days, and-.” She gestured at her clothes, “I’ll be changing into yet ANOTHER set of scrubs… Lovely.”

Catherine could not help but laugh at the young woman’s predicament. “Well, I hate to add to the fun, but… You wouldn’t happen to have the prelim on my DB from earlier?”

She sat back on her haunches, let out another huge sigh and thought about her answer a moment before she spoke, “Cassen, twenty year old female, suspected OD?”

Catherine shot her a dumbfounded expression, “Yes, and how the hell did you do that?”

“Tsk… It’s a gift… And a curse. Once it goes it in, it never comes out.” She reached out to balance herself on the edge of her desk and peeked over the top of it until she found what she was looking for, wiped her hand on her top and grabbed the folder to hand to Catherine. “First off, you can forget about the OD… She didn’t have time.” She scooped up the last of the mess on the floor and deposited it in the waste can. “The seven cc’s of hemorrhaged blood I took out of the base of her skull is probably related to her COD.”

“You’re kidding me!” Catherine started flipping through the preliminary report to look over the findings. She soon found herself alone in the office, as Stephanie had already walked out into the autopsy room.

She called back from the autopsy room, “Yeah, I was pretty shocked, too. But David noticed an aberration in the skull when he was cleaning the body.” She noticed that Catherine had emerged from the office with the report in her hands and was listening intently, so she stopped speaking with quite so much volume, “It wasn’t soft, or showing any contusions or lacerations.” She was looking through the index of the drawers she was standing next to, “However, the occipital bone was avulsed, which was probably the result of some kind of childhood trauma. Since that’s the only time the skull could have been soft enough to produce an avulsion.” She found the one she was looking for, dropped the book and opened the drawer containing the body in question, “Might have even happened during childbirth, but without causing any obvious brain injury, it would never have been noticed. And I found no evidence of Cerebral Palsy, so that’s not going to help you at all.” She pulled the sheet back and found that Catherine was right next to her when she looked up, “I’m still waiting for tox to come back, but those pills in her stomach appeared to be nothing more than aspirins, and mostly undigested ones at that. I’m going to say, that judging from the rounding of her face, and the amount of fluid I found throughout her system, that she was high on high doses of a steroid. And it probably raised her blood pressure and caused the bleed.”

That was too much for Catherine, she just had to know how she came to that conclusion without a tox screen, “Okay, now how can you say that without a tox screen?!”

“Cushing’s.”

“Cushing’s? What the hell kind of answer is that?” Catherine’s face was contorted with incredulity and she had subconsciously thrown her hand to her cocked hip in defiance of this conclusion.

“Yeah, Cushing’s Syndrome? They also call it ‘Moon Face.’ Comes from high does of steroids, typically seen in people with some kinds of kidney disease. Usually at the point of kidney failure. Though I have also seen it in cases of chronic acute asthmatics, as well.” Her matter of fact diagnosis simply blew Catherine away.

She stood there shaking her head at the look on the young woman’s face. As though her conclusion was nothing special at all, “Well damn girl! Now I can see why Al was so hot to scoop you up.”

Stephanie was confused now, “What? I don’t get it.”

Catherine was laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole thing, “Oh yeah, you’re definitely related to Grissom. Blood or not, you are just like him.” Even though Stephanie did not understand why Catherine had made that connection, she still laughed, because she knew it was true. She and Gil had had whole conversations where no one else in the room had a clue what they were talking about, and more times than not, someone would make a joke that neither of them understood. They truly were birds of a feather in many ways.

“What can I say? I had my first bug collection at four years old.” Stephanie chose to join in on the joke.

“This is going to be soooo much fun having both of you working cases.” Catherine patted her on the shoulder as she shut the drawer and they started walking back through the Autopsy Room. “So, I take it that was your lunch all over the floor in there?”

“Busted.”

“Well, then why don’t you take a break and come get something to eat with me before the tox comes back?” Catherine had decided during that exchange that this young woman was someone she could easily warm to, and she had also noticed that she had not really left the morgue all week. Her maternal instincts told her that Stephanie needed a little push to get her out and about.

“You know what? That sounds like a gr-.” She was interrupted by the entrance of David, pushing yet another body into the morgue.

“Catherine, Dr. MacInnerney…” David shuffled past the two women and continued about his business.

She saw Stephanie visibly slump her broad shoulders, “Like a great idea for another night. Sorry, but it looks like I have some more work to get to.” She gave a faint smile, “Thanks for the offer, though.”

She patted Stephanie on the back and tilted her head to the side, “Don’t sweat it… I’ll pick you up something and bring it down… You can pick it up next time.” She added that last part with a wink and this time Stephanie had a genuine smile.

“That’s sweet… Thanks for everything, Catherine… It means a lot.”

As Catherine was walking out of the morgue she amended her earlier statement. Stephanie was not just like Grissom, she was better. Grissom would have never been able to admit something like that to a perfect stranger.

Chapter 11

The last day of her first week and her car simply did not start. She had known the old girl was getting up there, but had never failed her in all their years together. Sure, the car was starting to show some wear and tear; it was older than she was after all, had seen more miles than any ten cars, and was never what anyone would have called good looking. But that car had been a part of her family, and it was practically her older sister. That day, however, her sister was sitting lifeless in front of their townhome, and Stephanie still had to get to work.

She had been growing frustrated at work and she was not used to that feeling, so every little thing that had gone wrong that week was starting to wear her down. The car was just the last straw. She should have known, because she had just driven a thirty three year old VW Thing the nearly three hundred miles from L.A. to Las Vegas, stuffed to the gills with everything she owned and pulling a U-Haul trailer. But unfortunately, all of that did not matter at the moment, what mattered was that someone answered their phone so that she was able get a ride to work, and for the third time in a row Thomas’ cell had gone straight to voicemail, so she then started fumbling through numbers trying to find the surgical service’s number so she could have him paged.

She nearly jumped on the phone when it suddenly starting ringing, “Hello?!... Thomas, thank god. You got my message?... No, it’s not flooded, because it won’t even turn over, and the battery isn’t dead either… Of course I know the difference… Thomas, there is nothing I can do with the car, and certainly not an hour before I have to be to work… No, I know you’re just trying to be rational… I’m not in the mood to be rational… How long do you figure it would take me on the bike?... No, I know I don’t know the trails around here at all, but I was just going to take the same way I drive… I don’t know what the neighborhood is like, I only drive through it… Okay, okay, so I’ll take a cab… No, I was gonna hit the ATM on my way to work… Don’t you have any in the-… Well, I guess I could call him… Are you sure you can’t get away?... No, I understand… Let me try him and see if he hasn’t left yet… Okay, love you too… Bye.”

She hung up the phone and took a deep breath, blowing it out quickly before she looked down at the phone again. She hung up the receiver and pulled her cell phone from her pocket, dialing the number with great reluctance she punched the last key. She let out another deep breath as the phone started ringing. When the answering machine picked up the last of her hope started to fade. She waited until the greeting ended and decided to leave a message anyway, “Hey Uncle Gil, I was just calling to see if you hadn’t left yet. I was having some trouble, and was hoping to catch you before I-.”

She was surprised when the line clicked and she could hear him clearing his throat, “Oh man, you have no idea how glad I am you’re still at home.” Her relief at hearing his voice was unbelievable. “Yeah, I am in desperate need of a ride to work today… Yeah, my car is toast. I think the drive from L.A. may have been its last hurrah… I can be ready whenever you are… Yeah, fifteen minutes is totally doable. Thanks a million… See you outside.”

She quickly put everything back into her backpack, and went back into the kitchen and made another breakfast bagel to give to her savior. She grabbed another hard-boiled egg, sliced it and placed it between the halves of the toasted bagel along with the ham and cheese slices. Once she had the sandwich assembled she carefully wrapped it up in plastic, Stephanie put it alongside hers inside the lunch box. When she was putting everything else away she reached back into the fridge to retrieve another orange juice to go with the sandwich.

She looked down at her watch and realized she had better get out the door to wait for her ride. She had literally just closed the door behind her when the black Denali pulled up in their driveway behind the guilty vehicle. Gil was already out of the car when she turned around, “Well, no wonder you’re having car trouble, Stephie… I’m surprised that beast is still on all four wheels!” He was shaking his head at the humor of the whole thing.

“Hey, you’re talking about family, ya know,” she was trying to downplay her desperation, because she had not wanted to explain everything to him. The problem was, she was truly on the brink. A new job with a lot more pressure and responsibility, worrying about doing a good job before people found out who she was, living with Thomas full-time again, the wedding plans that were painfully overdue and now the car; it was a lot more than she ever thought it would be and it was starting to be too much. As he got closer to her she started to feel the weight of it all more and more. When he opened up his arms to gesture at the car she had finally lost all control and sunk into his embrace.

Gil was standing there in total shock, but for some reason his instincts had kicked in and he just held her close and stroked her back. When the sobs started he tried to talk to her, “Hey now… What’s all this about?” She just continued to sob and he reached over to the parked car, opened the door and moved her around to get her to sit down before her legs gave way. He took the handkerchief out of his pocket, crouched down in front of her and wiped away her tears before he handed it to her. “Okay, now let’s try this again… What has you so worked up, Princess?”

She sniffled one last time before she started, “I’m sorry, Uncle Gil… I really didn’t want to come unglued like this.”

He wiped a stray tear from her cheek and then tucked a finger under her chin to lift it up so that they could look eye to eye. “Some times, we just need to let it all out.” The wisdom of his words struck him as ironic, since he was probably the single most guilty party for holding everything inside. When she nodded her head in agreement he thought to himself that she was so much smarter and wiser than he ever was. “So, you want to tell me what brought all of this on?”

“I don’t want to make you late or anything, so how about we do this in the car on the way in?” She had begun getting her composure back and he nodded his head as he slowly stood up from his crouched position. He then held out his hand to help her to her feet.

Once they were safely in the Denali and on their way down the street he stole a brief look over at her and she let go of a deep breath. “Yeah, the story, huh?” When he tipped his head forward she chuckled, “Okay, well… It’s not really been the week I was hoping for, I guess. And I was really trying to handle everything and not make a big deal of anything, but with everything happening so fast and all, the pressure just got to be really bad, and then the car dying was the last thing I needed today.” She looked out the window as she continued, “I guess this is what happens when everything you ever wished for happens… All in the same week.”

Gil cocked an eyebrow at her last statement, “Everything you wished for?”

“Are you kidding?! Of course! I’m running my own autopsy room, I’m sharing a home with the love of my life, planning a wedding, and working alongside one of my childhood heroes… Not to mention putting the finishing touches on my first professional solo research paper for publication.”

“Wait, you’re being published? Why didn’t you tell me?” Only Gil would key on what most would have been considered the lesser of all evils.

“Sorry, I wanted to wait until I got the final word before I told you… Just in case they laughed when I presented the final product.” Gil had to laugh at her humility, because it reminded him so much of her mother.

“Only you, Steph… Only you.” He shook his head as he laughed, and then it dawned on him that she had said planning a wedding. “What wedding?”

“Huh?”

“You said, ‘planning a wedding.’ Whose wedding?” Gil was serious, and even though he was fairly certain whose wedding it was, he had to hear it from her before he could believe it.

“Whose do you think, Uncle Gil? Thomas and I both agreed that we would wait until we could be together before we started worrying about the actual wedding. And this morning we agreed that was now, so we called Mom and started making plans… I just had no idea how big a deal that was until we actually started talking about the plans. I’m really surprised anyone ever goes through with this stuff, Uncle Gil… I mean really, who needs those headaches?”

She was talking at a mile and half a minute, and it gave Gil a warm feeling as he laughed. “I think that’s one of the many draws of the Vegas wedding chapels.”

“Not with MY mother!” They both laughed that time. “And with work being so much more than I ever imagined it would be, and the wedding stuff still fresh in my mind, and Thomas having to leave early today, and then the car, which by the way is still the coolest car ever made, so you better take everything you said back, or I’m telling Mom.” She finally took a breath when she saw the informational sign telling them they were nearing the municipal center. “Wow… That actually feels a lot better… I hate it when Mom is right ALL the time.”

Gil was confused by her final remark, “What was she right about this time?”

Stephanie just looked at him with surprise, “Oh please! Tell me you don’t remember her always saying, ‘If you don’t talk about it, then how are you ever going to solve the problem?’”

They were both laughing again when they pulled in to the parking lot, “I remember now… And that reminds me about something else she used to say.” Stephanie looked him in the eye to hear what he had to say, “She used to tell me that I needed to stop now and then and take a good look around at what I had, or one day it would all be gone and I wouldn’t even remember what had been there in the first place.”

The faraway look in his eyes nearly made Stephanie want to cry again, but instead, she chose to do the one thing Gil was not anticipating: she leaned over in the car, kissed him on the cheek and said, “I love you, Uncle Gil.”

He blushed at her gesture, and gave her one of his crooked smiles. With one last deep breath, she opened the door to the Denali and hopped out with her backpack and lunch box in hand. Suddenly, she slapped her forehead and started rifling through her lunch box, “I almost forgot!” She pulled out a small paper bag and handed it to him proudly. “I made you breakfast. Toasted bagel with hard-boiled egg (minus the yolk, of course), a thick slice of lean honey ham and a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. And of course some O.J. and if you want to have the sandwich warm, all you have to do is pop it in the microwave for fifteen seconds.” The beaming smile she gave him as she described the well-balanced breakfast she had made for him before his arrival today was even better than the food she was describing.

Taking the paper bag from her outstretched hand, he bowed his head and said without any thought to anyone within earshot, “Thank you, Princess. Probably the best meal I’ve had in a week.” She smiled again and waved goodbye as she practically skipped into the building while he watched from behind the wheel of the SUV.

So caught up in the reverie of watching his first pupil bound away into the front door, there was one thing he did not realize: that two spaces away someone else witnessed the whole scene unfold. Someone with soft, curly, brown hair and deep brown eyes; glassy with unshed tears.

Chapter 12

Nick had convinced Sara to go down to autopsy ahead of him to help him out with the new medical examiner, but she was not happy about him passing off autopsy work on her. She had spent most of the week either in court, chasing dead leads on the smash and grab or working yet another burglary, so she had yet to meet the new doctor. Her shift had also started out bad (Beyond bad, she thought) before she had even clocked in and she did not think she would make the best impression after all of that. Plus, she hated being in autopsy ever since she had become a vegetarian, but for Nick, she guessed she would make the sacrifice and just hope for the best. She was happy to find out it was a woman though, because they were always outnumbered at CSI headquarters, so it was comforting to think the balance might have finally shifted.

She pushed through the doors and looked around the room for the doctor. When Sara did not find anyone in the immediate vicinity she figured that it might be good to announce her presence, so as not to spook anyone. Just as she was about to call out, David came through the double doors of the big cooler, “Oh hey, Sara. Did you need something?” it was obvious from his dress that he was on his way out the door for a pick up.

“Ah, yeah, David. Where’s the new ME? I need a prelim on a DB that came in earlier.” She looked around the room again casually.

“Oh, she stepped away for a minute, but she should be back any moment. You want me to stick around for the introductions?” David was peeking at his watch while he spoke with Sara, so she knew he was probably in a hurry to get to a scene.

After some thought, she decided not to take him up on his offer, “Nah, that’s okay, David… I think I can handle it. You can go ahead.”

He was visibly relieved, “Thanks… Catherine is very impatient and I’m not wanting to be on her bad side for next week, too.” David was already scuttling out of the autopsy room when he spoke the last words, leaving her to face the woman alone.

She stood there with her hands in her back pockets, rocking back and forth on her heels a moment when she heard a sound coming from the office. She craned her neck around to find the back of someone slipping on a fresh scrubs top, but when that person’s deep red hair popped out through the collar of the shirt, her breath was caught tightly in her throat and she was instantly nauseous. It’s HER!

Before she had even a split second to flee the room, the woman was suddenly out of the office and had called out to her, “Hey, if you’re looking for David, you just missed him.”

Sara had to think fast and she had to say something, instead of standing there like a deer caught in the headlights and her mouth hanging open like a beached trout. “Ah… Um.. No… Not looking for David.”

“Oh, sorry… I guess I just figured you were his fiancé.” She waited for Sara to speak again, and when the uncomfortable silence continued, she spoke, “So, is there something I can do for you?” She walked over to the silent woman who was staring at her like she had six heads, and zeroed in on her name badge as she got closer. “Sara Sidle… Oh, you’re another CSI… Night Shift?”

That snapped Sara out of her catatonia, “Um, yeah, Night shift… I was looking for the um… The ah.. The prelim on the ummm.. The Francosi case, d- do you have it yet?” Right about now, Sara wished she had a good stiff drink. She was sure she had just made a complete ass out of herself.

The doctor put her hand up to her forehead and rubbed at it, as though she was trying to produce the information from it, “Um, Francosi, twenty five year old female, suspected OD, right?”

“Ah, yeah, that’s the one. W-We needed to get the prelim so that w-we could get started on the case.” Sara felt like a complete amateur at that moment: like she needed to tell a medical examiner why she needed the report.

“Sure,” she turned around to the table behind her and fumbled with some folders. “A-Ha! Here it is.” She turned back and handed Sara the folder.

Needing something to do, Sara opened the folder and tried to start looking through the notes, without really reading them, just needing to look away from the very tall and very beautiful, auburn headed woman in front of her.

Stephanie figured the woman was just going to flip through the report there in the autopsy room, in case she had any questions off the bat. So, to keep herself busy, and try to get ahead of the mess that had been building in the morgue all shift, she sat down at the table and worked on another report. She knew that Catherine would be looking for her preliminary report from her first case of the night when she returned to the lab with her last one, so she wanted to have it ready before she started on the next body. Stephanie still had three bodies waiting in queue from when she came in tonight. Apparently the swing shift coroner had called in sick and she was expected to deal with it on her own. The only good news was that David had spoke with Dr. Robbins and he had mentioned that he would be coming in early to help her catch up, so she only had another three hours to tough it out alone. If only she could keep the bodies from piling up. David was already on the road to pick up the newest one, and she was sure that she would come unglued if Dispatch called her one more time tonight.

The only bright spot in her day was her drive in with Gil. She felt safe with him, and as soon as she took one look into his deep blue eyes her entire resolve had melted away, just like it would when she was a little girl. Uncle Gil had always been her ‘saviour,’ and today had not been any different. Perfect timing, as always. She realized just how much she had missed him (and her father) that night he had taken her to the airport on her first trip to Las Vegas. And with the wedding plans getting into full swing, she knew just what she was going to have to do, and now she just had to figure out how. As she was pondering everything that had happened, she reached over the table for the rest of her notes and became completely lost in her work, and totally forgot about the woman standing in the room with her.

Sara finally made herself focus on the report in her hands, and started scanning it for the cause of death. When she found it, she was dumbfounded. “Natural causes,” she whispered under her breath. “Hey, what’s with this COD?”

The young doctor did not even blink when Sara had asked her question, and that was getting under her skin. Was it not enough that this woman was taking Grissom away from her, but she was going to ignore her, too? Well, that was just something that Sara would not take lying down, “HEY!”

Stephanie was suddenly reminded there was someone else in the room and her head popped up to find the source of the sound, “Oh, sorry… Got caught up in it again, I guess… Did you have a question?”

“Yeah, what’s with the COD?” Sara was holding the report in one hand and had her other planted firmly on her cocked hip.

“Nothing… There just wasn’t any foul play. Unless you count bad genes.” Stephanie returned her attention to the report in front of her.

Sara was quickly becoming indignant, and started looking through the report for the toxicology results, “Where’s the tox report?”

“Huh?” Stephanie looked up again, “Oh, it ah... It hasn’t come back yet, but it won’t change the cause of death. She didn’t OD.” Stephanie was starting to feel like her skills were being called into question, and her bile was starting to rise.

“Doc Robbins does not give any reports without tox results… Just how new are you?” Sara sent a direct stab in the doctor’s direction.

“Excuse me?” Stephanie was doing her level best to maintain her composure, but this woman was coming perilously close to getting a what for from her. With her patience being on the jagged edge already, the last thing she needed was some investigator questioning her ability to perform her job.

“How on earth can you sit there and tell me that the COD is not an overdose if you haven’t even seen the damn toxicology report?” Every word that came out of Sara’s mouth dripped with her disdain of the woman before her, and she was in no mood to hide it.

Standing up from her chair, Stephanie had finally had enough of the woman’s inflammatory questions, “I’ll tell you what, when I see an ‘MD’ following that name on your badge, maybe then I’ll take the time to explain to you what I learned after four years of intense training in medical school, two years of demanding clinical research as a resident, and a year spent in the L.A. County Coroner’s Office posting eight to ten bodies a night… But until then, maybe you should just read the damn report and trust that an expert in her field knows more about cause of death than a frigging investigator!”

The look on Sara’s face was all that Stephanie needed to see to know that she had just crossed the line. And when Sara turned to walk out, Stephanie reached out and put a hand on her shoulder to make her stop. “Wait.” She let out a deep breath that she had apparently been holding, “Look, I’m sorry for blowing up like that… I’m having a day from hell, and I’m still adjusting to everything here and at home, so I probably should’ve stepped out before I went off like that.” Sara turned around, fully prepared to lay into the younger woman with both barrels, “And I’m really sorry for jumping down your throat like that… I’m sure Gil has taught you guys to question everything.” Hearing her use his first name like that made her heart contract, “If you could just give me a minute to pull myself back together, then I’ll be happy to-.” Before she was able to finish her last phrase, the phone was ringing on the wall, “Answer the phone, since it’s probably a ten car pile up on the freeway and-.” She slumped down and she turned towards the phone, “I’m never gonna get out of here today… Excuse me.”

She walked over to the phone and lifted the receiver to her ear, leaving Sara to hide the pain in her eyes and give her a chance to recover. “Autopsy… Oh, thank the lord! I thought for sure you were Dispatch telling me I had twenty bodies on the way… Just another day in hell down here… No, I didn’t miss the irony in that statement…” A smile spread across her face, “Yeah?... Well, I remembered how much you liked those sandwiches… And you drank the O.J. too?... Good, because I know you haven’t been eating right…” She giggled at whatever the caller was saying, “Yeah… Hey, I really wanted to thank you for last night… That was exactly what I needed…” She laughed outright, “Hey, you know what they say? It’s a stress reliever…” She was twirling the cord around her fingers absently as she talked, “Oh don’t worry about it… Well, if you’re still here when I get done… Yeah, and I’ll even let you make me breakfast this time…” That was all Sara could handle.

She knew exactly who was on the other end of that phone call and she just could not deal with listening to the woman’s mewling any longer. She had to get out of there. She just dropped the report and bolted for the door while Stephanie had her back to her.

She was moving so fast, she did not even see Nick exiting the stairwell when she ran headlong into him, “Hey there! Slow down, Sara… Where’s the fire?” She threw up her hands and could not say a word, so she just shook her head and continued carrying out her escape.

Nick looked after her until she disappeared with an utterly confused look on his face, which he continued to have as he ambled into the autopsy room. When he heard a woman’s voice talking, he looked around to find Dr. MacInnerney talking on the telephone to someone. At least she seemed to be okay, from what Nick could discern from her tone and body language. He decided that maybe Sara had just come across something that turned her stomach in the room. She did have some issues with stomach contents since she had become a vegetarian. And he had to admit to himself that he was never much for the stuff either, so he could not blame her for wanting to get out quickly.

The doctor hung up the receiver and turned around talking, “Okay, attitude has been sufficiently adjust-.” She looked perplexed when she found Nick standing there, but he just smiled, “Either I was worse off than I thought, or someone is missing?”

Nick laughed, “Ah… Yeah, I saw Sara boltin’ outta here when I showed up: probably just got somethin’ foul in her nostrils.” Nick obviously did not know what was going on and Stephanie knew that she was going to have to fix the situation before it got out of hand.

“Well, I guess we’ll just add that to the laundry list of other crap that’s gone wrong this week.” She blew out a breath and headed off to the body sitting on the exam table, “Sorry, if I don’t stop, but I have three bodies in queue and David is picking up a fourth right now. So, what can I help you with?” She reached the body and removed the drape to begin her examination.

“Oh yeah, no sweat… I was lookin’ for the prelim on the Francosi case?” He stepped in her direction, but was stopped by her arm gesturing at the table behind him.

“Over there, um, ah, that last person was asking about it… What was her name?” She squinted her eyes and put her forearm to her brow in her attempt to bring the name out, “Damn… I can’t very well apologize to someone if I can’t remember her blasted name!”

Nick looked from her to the report and back again, “Oh, you mean Sara?”

“SARA! That’s right…” She slapped her forehead, “Why are first names such a pain to remember?” She started putting her gloves on as she continued, “Yeah, Sara was in here asking about that case. All of my notes are in the prelim, as is the COD, the only thing missing is the tox report.”

Nick started flipping through it, “So, what’s the tox say?”

She shrugged off the question, “I have no idea; it hasn’t come back yet.”

Nick looked up from the report, because he could not believe what he had just heard, “Wait… How do you know cause of death without the tox?”

She let out an exasperated sigh, “One more time with feeling, Steph… Physiology is NOT just found in a tox screen… She presented with enough anatomical symptoms to confirm a definitive diagnosis.”

The doctor was obviously frustrated with his questions, but he got the distinct impression that it had nothing to do with him, specifically. However, her statement was not making sense to Nick, and so he scanned the report for the cause of death, but when he found it, he just had to ask another question and he struggled with the pronunciation, “What the heck is ‘hereditary hay-mo-chroma-tosis?’”

“Hee-mo.” She corrected the pronunciation, “Sorry, but I always use the proper spelling instead of the Americanized one. Hereditary Haemochromatosis is where iron is not properly metabolized in the body and contributes to an early and painful death when untreated.” She rattled off the disease name and layman’s description to Nick, while she began the internal exam of the body on the table in front of her.

“Hereditary? That would mean this girl was born with this thing… How could she go untreated like that?” Nick was scratching his head.

“Well, actually, it’s rarely diagnosed before the age of thirty, and for women, typically only when they become post-menopausal. Iron’s not shed from the body the way most minerals are. It’s used for blood cell production, so, unless you bleed, you don’t lose any iron. People with iron deficiencies are often suffering from other issues which contribute to the depletion of iron from the blood stream; most commonly cancer, since it feeds on the iron in the blood.” She had made her “Y” incision as she explained the disease’s pathology.

“Okay, I get that, but how do you make that call without a tox report?” Nick saw her face contort with her frustration again, and figured that she had probably already gotten into it with Sara, and that was what the problem had been, so he headed it off at the pass, “Sorry for all the questions, I’ve just never come across this one and we were totally sure it was an OD or poisoning. If I can understand your diagnosis, then I can be ready if I ever see it again.” He walked a little closer to her while he explained himself, in order to save her from having to holler across the room. “It’s kind of a thing around here… Learnin’ from your mistakes and all.” When she looked up from the body and saw his face, he was flashing a crooked smile.

“I get it… And I’m sorry if I’m being a little short right now… It’s just been a tough week all the way around.” She nodded her head and smiled back.

“Yeah, and having that sexist jackass start off your week with that scene probably didn’t help, huh?” That time she laughed.

“They’ve been riding you pretty hard on that one, huh?” She said with her head tilted down.

“Nah… No more than I deserved.”

She stopped what she was doing with the body before her and motioned for Nick to follow her over to the drawers. “Okay, Hereditary Haemochromatosis (or HH) is something that builds up over years and years and is most prevalent in men over the age of thirty and post-menopausal women of Northern European descent. And it’s actually pretty common; one and a half to three people in every thousand persons (I looked it up). It’s figured that ten percent of the American population contains the genetic mutation that causes it. Now, if you notice in the report, the liver and the spleen were both greatly enlarged, with the spleen sitting at nearly two kilograms (with a normal spleen coming in at around a hundred and fifty grams for someone of her build): very common in HH patients, since the excess iron is deposited in those tissues.” Nick nodded his head as she retrieved the body from the drawer and pulled the sheet back. “Now, if you’ll notice the areas of the face and the flexural folds; there is an almost metallic gray coloration in some places and her face is appearing almost like it was bronzed.”

“Yeah, we noticed the face, but Sara thought it might have been some of that fake bake.” Nick was really getting in to the information now.

“That would be a negative. Regardless of what they tell you, it does leave a residue and the swab came back negative for any foreign substances outside of Vaseline Intensive Care Therapy Lotion, or a generic thereof…” When his face told her he did not understand how she knew that detail, she explained, “Sorry, it is THE most common lotion used by bodies coming through autopsy, so I have the formula memorized.” They both chuckled a little, “Anyway, the bronzing or the gray pallor are signs of the liver being effected by the protein deposits. Okay, next, you’ll notice the cutaneous atrophy on her lower legs. That happens in more than a third of HH patients. Also, check out her fingernails.” She held up the young woman’s hand to give Nick a better view from beside her.

Nick shook his head and pointed down at the white lines in the fingernails, “Yeah, see those lines are what made us think maybe it was a unusual OD, or something that acted similar to arsenic.”

“Well, you were sort of right, it was just an OD of naturally occurring iron in the bloodstream… But, if you’ll notice, the nails of the thumb, index and middle fingers are concave, and almost spoon shaped, right?” She brought the hand even closer for him to examine it.

“Yeah, but she worked for a sheet metal company, so we didn’t even look at that.”

“Well, this is a classic symptom of HH, and a fourth of the patients have very prominent ‘spoon nails.’ Its technical term is a pain to pronounce even for me, so when you see that ‘K’ word in the final report, just remember ‘spoon nails.’”

“Got it.” He looked at her arms and pointed at the scaly build up of skin there, “So, I take it that ain’t some kind of reactionary problem with her work?”

“Good call. Ichthyosiform alterations occur in nearly half of all HH patients. It’s where there are these thickening patches of skin that get really scaly, like a fish (which is where the term comes from). It’s also accompanied with hair loss in more than half of the patients; most common in the pubic region (as we see with her) and in some cases, total body hair loss.”

Nick was still in awe at the diagnosis, but he was beginning to understand why the doctor was so sure of her conclusions. This woman appeared to have all the classic symptoms, except that her age made her very atypical, based on what the doctor had told him, “Okay, all that makes sense, but there’s no way this twenty five year old girl is post-menopausal, Doc.”

“Nice catch… When David was prepping the body, he noticed a scar in along the pubic cavity. Your vic had a complete hysterectomy; probably within the last year.” She pulled back the sheet some more to show him the very thin scar. “And whoever did it was good. I mean, without her hyperpigmentation, it would have been hard not to see that scar.”

Nick was confused now, “Okay, but why does that make the difference?”

“Cessation of menstruation.”

That did not clear up his confusion, “And?”

She laughed that time, “Silly boy… The only way to purge the body of the excess iron is to BLEED. The most common treatment for HH is phlebotomy, which is why it typically isn’t diagnosed in women until they are finished menstruating.”

It was Nick’s turn to slap his forehead that time, “Got it!” He flipped through the report a little more before he thought of something else that the doctor had said, “Hey wait a sec… You said it was most common in Northern Europeans, right?”

“Sure did.”

“Her name is Francosi and she’s got black hair… That would normally scream Italian to me.” He was just playing with her, but it was something that did not fit the classic symptoms.

“Yup, and when you see the wedding ring on her finger in the photos of the body, and notice the freckles on her body, you’ll be leaving a bigger red mark on your forehead.” She had a sly grin on her face, so Nick dug further into the report.

That was when he found it; “Parents: Margaret & Jonathan O’Brien, Residence: Belfast, Ireland.”

He looked up from the report sheepishly and just said, “Oh… Nevermind.”

Chapter 13

As he walked through the halls of CSI headquarters, Warrick Brown was trying to work through the evidence of his case. He had read something in the report in his hands that did not jibe with his running theory, which meant he was back at square one again. When he dropped the folder to his side and grabbed at his neck with the other hand, he was startled by the loud crashing sound of metal on metal coming from the locker room. What he found as he peeked around the corner was not an unfamiliar sight. With her head resting against the lockers, Sara Sidle looked to him like she was about to fall completely apart, and he knew of only one thing that brought her to that breaking point: Grissom.

“Hey, Girl.” As soon as he spoke those two words, she was instantly on guard and jerked her head in his direction. The look on her face confirmed his suspicions; she really was about to fall completely apart. When it appeared as though she was going to spook like a trapped animal, he knew he had to get her out of there, and fast. “Grab your stuff.” He did not ask her anything, he just commanded, and she followed. He casually gestured for her to follow him and once again, she obeyed.

He made his way through the halls with her right beside him, and eventually they found themselves outside of the building and standing beside her car. “You been burning that candle again, why don’t you get out of here.” Again, it was more of a command than a question, and again, she just nodded her head and complied. She was too far gone to resist Warrick’s help, and she was certain that she was about to break into a million pieces, so it also came at just the right time. If she had been in her right mind at that moment, she would have recognized that theirs was an extremely unconventional friendship, which had started with her investigation of the Holly Gribbs’ murder, but it turned into probably the best relationship she ever had. And if Warrick had thought about it, he would have said the exact same thing. Instead, she got in her car and left the parking lot, with Warrick blocking the sun from his eyes as he waved goodbye to her.

Once he was sure she was not turning around and coming back, he headed back into the building shaking his head. His and Sara’s friendship was not the kind of thing where they talked about everything, but it was more about silent unanimity. They were empathetic of one another’s plights and most of their communication was left unspoken. Sure, they joked with each other on a daily basis, but that was just their front, and the real secret to their friendship was the quiet understanding that passed between them in subtle ways. It was comfortable for both of them, and it seemed to work as well.

As he dropped down into the chair in the break room and slapped the report onto the tabletop, he realized how hard this week had been on him, too. They had all been pulling extra hours, simply from the volume of cases coming through their doors. Just as he was closing his eyes and leaning back in the seat to stretch his back and try to clear his head a moment, his ears told him that someone had walked into the room. He looked in the direction of the door and found Grissom peering in; he was obviously looking for someone. “What’s up, Doc?”

Grissom seemed shocked from his task and it took him a moment to be able to respond, “Huh? Oh, um, I was looking for Sara…” He looked down at the file in his hand and then around the room again, “I’m trying to decipher her notes in the jumper case from yesterday.”

Warrick now had to figure out how he was going to explain the fact that he had sent her home. And as he was grasping for ideas, Catherine nudged her way past Grissom and headed straight for the coffee maker. “Yeah, um, she was havin’ trouble keeping her eyes open,” Warrick went out on a limb now, “And Cath sent her home.”

When Grissom turned to address a shocked Catherine, Warrick did his best to motion for her to cover for him, and to her credit, Catherine handled it like a pro. “Yeah, well, the girl’s been working doubles all week. She needed to get out of here before she maxed out on overtime in the first week.”

Grissom looked confused and mildly irritated at Catherine’s assumption of his role as supervisor, “What are you talking about? I know we’ve been busy, but no one else has done doubles this week.”

Now it was time for Catherine to be irritated, “Gil, you really need to look at that schedule in your email every week…” When she saw that her comment was not registering, “Sara has been in court all week AND pulling her regular shift because she didn’t want to leave YOU short-handed.” She turned back to the coffee pot and finished pouring it into her mug before moving past a dumbstruck Grissom to take a seat at the table. “You really need to pay more attention to what’s going on around here, Grissom… Especially with your own people.”

After a few more moments of shocked silence, Grissom turned around and walked back out of the room. And once Catherine was sure he was gone, she kicked Warrick under the table, “Don’t you EVER do that to me again.”

Warrick was grabbing at his shin in pain, but he had to chuckle at the situation, “Sorry, Cath, but I needed some excuse for gettin’ her outta here… I don’t know what happened, but she was this close to losin’ it.”

Catherine sat back in her chair and blew across the top of her mug, “Well, we both know there’s only one thing that gets under Sara’s skin like that.” They just shook their heads and looked out the doorway at the ghost of a man that had only just left the room.

Catherine sipped at her coffee a moment, and Warrick took that as a sign to get back to his report. But he was pulled right back out of it by her next outburst, “Hey!” She put her cup back down on the table and leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner, “You can fix a car, right?”

He screwed up his mouth up into one of those sideways smiles, “I guess… Would depend on the trouble and what kind of car. You havin’ trouble?”

Catherine shook her head, “Oh, no, not me… The new coroner has an old car.”

He interrupted, “Oh yeah, one of them Things, right?”

“Yeah, you’ve seen it?” He just nodded with a smirk on his face. “Well, I guess the ugly beast was totally dead when she tried to take it to work today… And as you well know, she’s been having one seriously bad week.” Catherine added her own bit of attitude to the statement.

“Oh yeah… Nothin’ like starting a new job and havin’ it be THE single busiest week ever. How many bodies has the morgue posted this week, anyway?” Warrick knew it had been very busy, but he also knew that Catherine would have the body count.

She looked up, as though she were reading the figures in the air, “Ah, well when we started shift, it was up to thirty two bodies… And Steph had posted twenty two of them… But that was before shift started, so I think we’re up to like fourty for the week.” Catherine took another sip from her mug before looking over at Warrick’s shocked expression.

He shook his head, hoping the action would give him some clarity on those figures, “Are you serious?” His expression showed the severity of those numbers, “Man, that girl has some skills.”

“Tell me about it.” Catherine leaned forward again to ask him her favor, “So, think you could swing by her place after shift to take a look at her car?” Warrick sat back in his chair and thought about the request a moment, and Catherine decided to add one more thing, “”I’d hate to leave that poor kid at the mercy of a Vegas import shop, ya know?”

That made sense to Warrick and he thought it would also be a fine gesture for the young doctor to know just how much everyone in the lab appreciated her presence on the night shift. The fact was, he had been really worried about the new coroner coming on board and fitting in with this unconventional team of investigators and technicians. His fears were quickly erased by her fast work and insightful conclusions. She had caught something on each of his cases in the morgue that week that he had missed and he had been seriously impressed by her thoroughness and sense of humility. But it was when he witnessed her put Hodges in his place the day before yesterday, that he knew she was a perfect fit for this crazy place. As he considered everything that had happened in their lives lately, he realized that it really was important to work with good people, and he was going to do his part to make sure they felt welcome, “Alright… I’ll swing by there and see what’s up.” Catherine gave him that electric smile of hers, and Warrick played her with that humble kid from the streets grin, “At least give her something to take to the shop.”

Catherine sat back in the chair, content in the notion that she had done her good deeds for the day. Warrick took one look at her expression, and simply could not resist, “You don’t gotta look so much like your nickname, Miss Thing.” They both laughed at the thought, but it was true; sometimes Catherine really did look like a cat when she was pleased with herself.

She just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Hey, it’s hard to hide a purr.”

Chapter 14

It was just after ten o’clock in the morning when Stephanie submitted her last final report for the shift. “Thank God!” She had said as she was shutting down her computer.

David, upon hearing her exclamation, poked his head inside her office door, “Finished?”

She looked up to find David standing in her doorway with his jacket and case, “Oh yeah… And only a few hours overdue.”

David chuckled, “Great first week, huh?” She huffed her answer, “Hey, I do have some good news…” She perked up a little at his tone, “With that last case, you set the county record for most posts by a single person in a week.”

Stephanie gave him a blank look before answering, “You have got to be kidding me?!”

“Nope, Dr. Robbins was just commenting about it to the County Coroner. Busiest week ever in our shop, and you handled twenty eight out of fourty one cases.” David actually looked proud of those numbers, and Stephanie realized that he probably was proud, since he had assisted on at least twenty of those autopsies. About midway through the week, he had commented to her that it was unusual for him to get to assist quite that much, and she understood that he was also proud that she had placed so much trust in his abilities. The fact of it was, she had just assumed that things worked the same way here as they would in Los Angeles, where the assistants were on the same level as O.R. nurses and that was what they did. The only thing she thought that was different here, was that they did not have a budget for the pickup men they had in L.A. County. After hearing about that from David, she had questioned Dr. Robbins about letting him assist so much, but Al thought it was a great idea and that it would also be good for David to get that kind of experience. After all, David was still in school and was looking to become a full-blown medical examiner, he had not decided about the medical school angle just yet. Stephanie had decided that it was going to be her job to convince him that it was the way to go.

“So, you mean it’s not like that around here all the time?” David shook his head and laughed, “Well, that’s at least something to look forward to… A quiet week.”

“You’re going to regret saying that.” David was obviously feeling comfortable with Stephanie after their intense week, because at the start of their week he still had the appearance of a timid rabbit around her. Stephanie decided that if this was a result of their surviving a week like that, then maybe all the hell was worth it.

“You’re probably right…” She sat back in her chair contemplating something, ‘I shouldn’t have shut that down so soon… You don’t happen to know a good cab company?”

David looked confused, but tried to come up with an answer, “Well, Midtown is good, but why do you need a cab?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you… The Thing became the Undead this morning.” She looked down at her watch, “And my fiancé has been in bed for about two hours, and my last chance for a ride left here about an hour ago.” She was resigned to her plight, and she had calmed down quite a bit from her earlier fireworks shows. She guessed that exhaustion did have some perks.

David looked around and at his own watch, “Well, I have some time before I pick up Sandy for lunch over at UNLV, so I could drop you off… If you don’t mind squeezing into a Honda, that is.”

She leaned forward, “Are you sure?”

David just shrugged, “Yeah, I don’t see why not… Didn’t you say your place is close to Desert Palms?”

She stood up and grabbed her bag, “Yeah, just a few blocks from the ER entrance.”

“Then let’s go, I always take the back way over there anyway, to avoid the traffic, and it takes me right past the hospital.” David smiled as she walked towards him.

“David, you have just made my day… It is a new day, isn’t it?” He nodded and they both laughed as they walked out of the morgue.

David had been right, Stephanie had fun squeezing into the Honda, but once inside the car she was fine, and they enjoyed the short ride over to her neighborhood. She had learned about David’s interest in the SETI project, and she had to admit, even though the topic was foreign to her, his enthusiasm was refreshing. She also had a chance to inject the seeds of encouragement for him to attend medical school and become a real pathologist. She truly believed he had what it took and medical school would be the ideal environment for his confidence and his skills to build.

When they pulled up in front of her home, she thanked him again, “David, you’ve been a huge help, and I hope your fiancé knows what a lucky girl she is.” He blushed at her compliment, “You have a great weekend, and I’ll be back in the trenches Sunday night.”

“Thanks, Dr, MacInnerney… And you have a good weekend, too.” She waved him off as he pulled away from the front of the townhouse. Once he was down the block, she could hear the sound of her baby’s engine revving up coming from the other side of the house, and she wondered how in the world Thomas had pulled that off.

She quickly unlocked the front door, went inside and dropped her things in the chair, making her way to the garage at the back of the house. She threw open the door and called out to him, as he was hidden behind the hood of the engine compartment, “Hey! Since when did you learn how to fix a c-.” She was stopped cold when the head that popped up over the top of the hood was not that of her fiancé. Instead, she found the smiling face of Warrick Brown. “Where in the hell did you come from?”

Suddenly, Thomas was walking up behind her with a couple of beers in his hands, “Is that anyway to greet the man who just resurrected that beast from the dead, sweetheart?” She turned to find the smiling face of her fiancé as he passed her to hand Warrick one of the beers in his hands as the other man made his way around the car. “Here ya go, man…” He turned back to Stephanie, “Take this one, I’ll grab another… I hear you need it more than me.” She felt the warmth of his lips on her cheek as he passed by her going back into the house.

Warrick took a drag off of the bottle and wiped the sweat off of his forehead with a rag before speaking, “Hey, girl… Catherine told me you were havin’ some car trouble. Figured I’d swing by and see if I could at least diagnose the problem…. Hope you don’t mind.” While he waited for her to respond, he took another pull from the bottle.

She finally got over the shock of finding a CSI in her garage and spoke, “Talk about having the worst and the best week of my life.” She shook her head, and Warrick laughed.

“Yeah, that seems to be a problem with our group. Must mean you belong.” They both laughed that time and that was when the tall, brown-haired doctor returned with his own beer.

“What’s the joke?” He asked just before he took his own drink and put an arm around Stephanie’s waist.

“Other than my week, and my car?” She leaned against him when she responded and when he pulled her a little closer, she put her head on his shoulder.

“That’s okay, babe… Weeks get better, and Warrick here has that thing sounding better than I’ve ever heard it sound in the seven years I’ve known you.” Thomas tipped his beer in Warrick’s direction.

She stood straighter at his mention of the car, “Yeah, I heard it when David dropped me off out front… What in the world did you do to my baby?”

Warrick shied away from her compliment and brushed it off with his hand, “Not much at all… Your carburetor was just clogged and I tweaked it a little, too. Other than that, I was actually surprised it wasn’t something big. You kept that thing running top, girl. Where’d you learn that stuff?” Warrick was duly impressed with the condition of the over thirty year old car.

She just shrugged it off, “Mom came of age before Women’s Lib, but she liked to hold her own, so she took some auto maintenance classes. She passed it on to me.” She looked at Thomas before continuing, “And it’s a good thing, because this one barely knows how to pump gas, let alone change a tire.”

“Hey now… I am a surgeon, you know.” The two had a private communication between them with their eyes, but they all laughed at her taunting. “Well, now that you’re here to entertain our automotive saviour, I’m gonna head off to bed...” He kissed her quickly on the lips and turned to go back into the house, “I have to make rounds at five o’clock, and check in on a patient who had bypass this morning, but after that, I’m yours.”

She watched him go back into the house and called after him, “Just as long as you don’t wake me up when you leave… Again.” They could faintly hear his acknowledgement of her jibe, but just barely. She turned back to Warrick, who was shutting off the car and closing the engine compartment. “Hey, Warrick… Thanks, man… This really means a lot to me; you have no idea.”

“Don’t sweat it… I figured it was the least I could do.” He was wiping his hands with the rag with no luck in getting all the grease and grime off.

Noticing what he was doing, she slapped her forehead, “Where are my manners?! Why don’t you come inside to get cleaned up while I fix you something to eat?” She walked back into the house and gestured for him to follow.

“Hey, don’t go to any trouble or nothin’.” He looked from side to side once he stepped inside the house.

“No trouble at all… I’m keeping you from your wife, and you just fixed my baby” She pointed over to his left, “Bathroom is there on your left. Hand cleaner, towels and such are under the sink.” Once she recognized that he saw which way to go, she turned and went into the kitchen, calling behind her, “I’ll have something ready for us by the time you’re done in there.”

She took out everything she needed to make them a couple of sandwiches and set to work. By the time she heard the bathroom door open, she was cutting the sandwiches in half and putting them on plates. Warrick walked in just as she was returning the last of the fixings to the refrigerator, “Hey, you made quick work of that.”

He smirked a little, and looked at his hands, “Well, I make my living figuring out the dirty details of people’s lives, so you learn a few things about getting the grime off at the end of the day.”

She sighed at his remark and looked inward for a moment, “Yep, everyday, you meet people on their worst day.” She looked back at him and into his eyes, “Kind of helps you keep things in perspective, huh?”

Warrick thought about it a moment, and it was in that moment that he realized this was a woman who looked at life in a way that few ever understood. The second thought he had was; she reminded him of what Grissom must have been like before whatever made him so closed off had happened. She was smart; genius even. He knew she was young, and had finished school early, but she was not just book smart, she had some wisdom too.

Before he had more time to think about it, Stephanie was inviting him to sit down and eat, “Come on, it’s more comfortable in the other room…” She looked back at the rustic table set up in the kitchen, “That’s the first thing I need to get rid of around here. That man has no taste in tables or chairs.” She ushered him into the living room and set their food down on the coffee table, “Thankfully, he at least knows living room furniture.”

Warrick had to stifle a laugh, “Yeah, well, guys only worry about the important stuff.”

“Men…” She noticed that his beer was empty and took the bottle from him before she asked, “So, you want another beer or something else?”

Warrick looked at his watch and then at her as he contemplated sitting down on the couch, “Ah, what’cha got?”

“Iced Tea, Lemonade, Apple Juice, Milk and I think I have ginger ale, too.” She called out from the kitchen behind her.

“Iced Tea would be great,” he called back. He was just about to sit down when something on the opposite wall caught his eye, so he crossed over to get a better look. There were a bunch of pictures on the wall, and he could trace the last several years of their lives in those pictures, but there was one picture in particular that stood out. She was smiling broadly, wearing a cap and gown with her arms around two men. One of the men was the one he had just met this morning (also in cap and gown), but it was the other one that had him reaching a hand up to his face in shock. Standing there, with an uncommon smile on his beardless face was Grissom. That was how Stephanie found him when she walked back into the living room and had to scan the room to find him.

“Oh crap!” Warrick turned to find her standing there in the entryway with her head hung down, “I completely forgot about the pictures.” She walked over to the couch to set the drinks down and then turned to face the music.

Warrick just shook his head in disbelief, but at the same, it just made sense, “I shoulda guessed that.” He met her eyes and they were filled with shock from his statement, “I mean, you two don’t look nothin’ alike and all, but you got the same brain. I guess I just never pictured him for a Daddy.”

She could not contain the laughter, and it burst from her like an explosion. Warrick was totally confused by her outburst, but he waited until she said something before he said another word. After a few moments, she appeared to have caught her breath and put a hand on his shoulder, “Gil is NOT my Daddy! Oh man, that really is funny.” She pointed to another picture of herself and an older couple, “THOSE are my parents. Gil was a co-worker and friend of my Pop’s, and he just became a part of our family. Heck, he’s been around so long, I’m not sure I have any memories without Uncle Gil in them.” She walked over to the bookcase on the next wall and grabbed another photograph, “This is one of my favorite pictures.” She handed him a picture of a fresh faced Grissom in a black suit and a much older man in a police uniform. “They had just gotten back from a patrolman’s funeral and I was testing the camera Gil had given me for my fifth birthday. Notice how the angle is a little off?” He did notice that he felt almost like he was looking up at them from the photograph. “Uncle Gil made me re-take it from a better perspective, because he said their height would be distorted and crime scene photos should always have proper proportions.” She held the picture again, “But that was how I saw them, and it was the picture I kept all these years. When my Pop passed away a while back, I gave Uncle Gil a copy of both pictures in a frame; one to see how they really were, and one to see how I always viewed them… They have always been bigger than life to me.” She carefully returned the prized photograph to the bookcase.

Warrick was still in a bit of shock, but now his curiosity was taking over, “So, why’re you two keeping your relationship on the down-low?”

She tilted her head to the side and gestured for him to have a seat on the couch, once he did she passed his glass of tea over and took a sip from hers, “Well, I got the job without him knowing, and I wanted to prove myself without anyone else knowing.” She took another sip from her glass, “See, people treat you differently if they find out you have connections. And it’s even worse when you work in the same field as your connections.”

Warrick looked out across the room, trying to process all the information, “So, I can see how you got the job solo: your work speaks for that one. But I don’t get why you’d hide bein’ related to Gris?”

She let out a breath quickly, “Well, it’s one of those double-edged swords, being his protégé opens some doors and slams other ones shut. Some people are going to accept me, simply because I was his ‘prize pupil.’ And other people, they’re either going to expect me to be him, or they are going to want to put me down because of him.” She looked him in the eye for her final statement on the matter, “Sucks either way, and I prefer to make my mark BEFORE anyone finds out the truth. Then, I get what you just did; ‘shoulda guessed that.’”

He had to admit, he would have been biased if he had known she was related to Grissom, and figured that people would base that bias depending on their general feelings towards the man. Warrick tried to imagine how he would have felt if everywhere he went in his profession, there was, not one, but two people for him to live up to or to live down for the rest of his life, and what he could imagine was not a pretty thought. “I think I can picture that. But you know it ain’t gonna last forever, right?”

“Oh yeah, I already blew it with Catherine the first day.”

Warrick had to laugh at that one. Leave it to Cath to sniff out the rat. “That figures.”

She was shaking her head, “I should’ve been more prepared for her, I mean, she is his best friend and all.” Warrick gave her a puzzled look, “Oh, Uncle Gil told my Pop and me all about Catherine when he first started working with her. Told us she was super sharp and came from a whole different perspective. Said she was teaching him more about the human element of things.” She chuckled to herself a bit, “Pop tried to tell us that he thought maybe Gil had finally found someone to make him happy, but Mom and I both looked at each other and went; ‘Nah!’” Warrick had to laugh about that one, too. He had always wondered if Catherine and Grissom ever had a thing, but he had never gotten up the nerve to ask either of them about it. “Mom and I both knew that the only way Uncle Gil would EVER settle into a relationship, was if he could find his intellectual and social equal, and she would also have to get his twisted sense of humor, and not have a problem with bugs. And Pop would always add, ‘She’d have to work with him, too… If she ever expected to see him, that is.’”

Warrick pinched his smile and looked over to the side to think about that one before he responded, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Chapter 15

Hodges was convinced his ship had finally come in when he looked up to find the new and incredibly hot medical examiner in the hallway outside his office. She appeared to be looking for something; or someone. He caught a quick glance in the mirror he kept hidden in his workstation to make sure he was just as impressive as he believed he was, smoothed out his eyebrows and snapped his jaw shut with a smile before reaching out to the beauty in the hall.

He leaned out of the Trace Room and called to her, “Help you find something, beautiful?”

Stephanie was stopped in her tracks by the offhand and unwarranted comment, “Excuse me?”

Hodges rested against the doorjamb and attempted to strike a Cary Grant pose, “You looked lost… Is there something I can do for you?”

Before she could lay into him, again, she found that CSI Sanders was there with something to say, “Hodges, are you smoking something again? If Dr. MacInnerney needed anything, you aren’t the man handle it.” He turned away from Hodges and flashed a boyish wink at Stephanie, “Besides, the Doc was looking for me, since I was the one who paged her.” He motioned for her to follow him. “C’mon, Doc… We got some questions on that Ponzi case.” Stephanie quickly searched her databank brain for the case Sanders had mentioned, but she was drawing a blank when it suddenly dawned on her what he was talking about.

“You paged me about Ponzi? I thought we had the full pyramid of data on that one already?” She wanted to make sure he knew that she was in on the scam.

As he led her away from Hodges’ leering eyes, he added, “Yeah, but we just need to make a little more sense from the data.” Once they were sufficiently out of earshot, he just could not resist, “Nice catch, Doc… I thought Grissom was the only one who caught those obscure historical references.”

She laughed at the humor of his comment; especially since it was Gil who had first told her the story behind the Ponzi Scheme of the 1920’s when she had questioned him about the case her father was working on regarding a pyramid scheme. She wanted to know what a pyramid scheme was, and true to form, Gil was there with the full historical record. “Well, let’s just say I am an avid reader and student of the game.”

Sanders just chuckled, “So, now that Hodges the Horrible is out of the way, can I help you find something?”

“Actually, yeah, I was looking for Gil and he wasn’t in his office.” Stephanie was actively looking around the lab as she spoke.

Greg was a little surprised to hear her use Grissom’s first name, since he had only ever heard Catherine and Brass do that, and they had both known him for years. He decided that there was a mystery there for him to solve, but for now, he would play along, “Oh, um… He was here a little while ago, but I was in electronics with Archie and-.”

“Probably wasting the taxpayer’s money… Where is your report, Greg?” Grissom had appeared behind them as they were walking.

“My report is ah… Well, it’s….” Greg floundered as he struggled to provide a good reason for his lack of completion.

“On my desk before another hour passes, right?” Grissom shot him a raised eyebrow and Greg simply nodded and took off in the opposite direction.

“Such a taskmaster, you are.” She winked at him and waited for him to stand at her side.

He gave her his disapproving glare before he spoke, “You were looking for me?”

“Oh yeah… I have something for you, and thought you’d want to see it ASAP.” She handed him a folder as they walked towards his office.

He placed the folder on top of the clipboard he was carrying, opened it up, and they continued on their path to the office. They were just a few steps away from the door when he stopped flat, “So this means that-.” He looked up at Stephanie.

“You got it… It couldn’t be any clearer than if it had been tattooed on his forehead.” She gave him an impish look with her comment.

He raised his eyebrow at her off-hand comment regarding the stabbing victim case they had been processing. They had not had much luck in determining what the weapon had been, but they had both found an unusual discoloration at the site of the wound and were hopeful it would lead them in the right direction. As he glanced at the report once more, he saw that the discoloration was actually tattooing ink and the photos of the tattooing equipment she had found matched the wound pattern perfectly. He was impressed that she had followed her own instincts and traced down the weapon on her own. He guessed that she was a lot more like her father than he had counted on, and having her in the morgue was going to be an obvious advantage for all of his team members.

As they walked into his office he simply could not resist making his own comment, “That would make this a whole new form of lethal injection.”

She casually put her hand on his forearm as she laughed. “Nice… Well, I just wanted to get you the results as soon as I could. I heard you were under the gun from the Sheriff.”

He took a seat behind his desk while she looked around at the various items lining the shelves in his office. “That is not news.” Stephanie chuckled at his remark.

“Well, that figures. You spend all your time on the case instead of worrying about your professional career.” She moved across the room and sat down on the edge of his desk while he continued to read the full report, “Pop always said you were going to be the most brilliant forensic mind ever to be banished to academia for being a political kindergartner.” Her last comment finally pulled him out of the report.

He looked up at her from over his glasses. “Your father was a wise man,” he shrugged. He sat back in his chair and took his glasses off. “However, I would rather get things right and look bad, than look good and get the details wrong.”

She laughed at that one, “Gil, do you honestly believe you can’t expose the truth and improve your professional standing at the same time? They are not mutually exclusive activities.” He shrugged off her question, but she was not letting him slide this time, “You really are stuck in your own head… You need a girlfriend.”

That time he could not contain the laugh that escaped his lips, “That is your mother talking.”

Stephanie shook her head as she laughed at his joke, “Not this time, Gil… I’ve been here for two weeks now and I have literally witnessed you NOT being on the job for only three hours in that time. And I had to drag you kicking and screaming to go to dinner with me and Thomas to give you that time.” She gave him a more serious look, “You need to spend a little bit more time in the world, instead of reading about it.”

He smirked at her comment, but he was unable to rebuke her; she was right. Gil Grissom had spent most of his life reading about the great things other people had done, reading about the great things they had experienced, and reading the great things they had written in the name of passions he had never experienced himself. And here before him was this amazing creature; fearless in every way, showing him just what life could be like, if only he was willing to risk it all. “Yes, well, we all have our eccentricities. And right now, I am trying to figure out why you came up here to find me. I thought we weren’t letting anyone know about us.” He raised his eyebrow with his questioning statement.

“Yeah, well, it seems that most people have already figured it out.” She shrugged off his questioning look. “Last straw for me was when Captain Brass came to see me this morning. I guess he put two and two together after he talked with a mutual friend in L.A.” Gil raised an eyebrow. “Old buddy of his in New Jersey is a captain in L.A. now, and we served on a leadership committee together. I guess he had talked to Annie and had gotten the full scoop. So, with so many people knowing about us, I just couldn’t see keeping up the distancing crap.” He shook his head, and it did seem logical.

There was one thought that crossed his mind as he resigned himself to people knowing more about his personal life. “Who else knows?”

The look on his face was priceless, and Stephanie could not help but laugh at the humor of the situation. It would appear that his friends had even kept their own knowledge of their relationship a secret from him. “The usual suspects, of course…” She held up her hand and raised her thumb, “Brass obviously,” the index finger was next, “Warrick,” middle finger came next, “Catherine,” the ring finger followed, “David,” the pinky wiggled up, “Al,” the pinky folded in half, “Sofia,” the ring finger folded next, “Vartann,” next came the folding of the middle and index fingers, “and Wendi and most likely Greg.” As Grissom followed the count in his head, he realized that Stephanie had counted using the standard ASL numerals and mused to himself, When did she learn ASL?

“Wendi and Greg?”

“Yeah, they both went to Stanford… Mom was Wendi’s advisor, and I’ve known her for years. I figure it’s only a matter of time before she and Greg shared info, since she knew he went there, too.” She just laughed at his expression of shock.

“Okay, I get most of those.” He shook off the confusion, but had one more question. “But how did Sofia and Vartann figure it out?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “That would be Thomas… He drove my car to work last weekend and I guess they were questioning him in the parking lot about a patient, recognized the car and got him talking… Sofia put the rest of it together from there.” She was absently pulling a paper clip apart as she spoke, “She’s a really bright lady, Gil… Someone you might consider?” She was trying to be coy, but the smirk on Grissom’s face was her only response. She feigned innocence and made one final remark as she handed him the paper clip which was now twisted into the crude form of a butterfly, “Hey, can’t blame a girl for trying to figure out what you want, right?”

They were both laughing at the joke and completely missed the failed entrance of another woman to his office. Upon hearing the private admission to Grissom, she had immediately plastered herself to the opposite wall, and well out of sight. Once she had caught her breath, she was moving fast down the hall, and struggled to hold back the tears as she made her escape.

Chapter 16

There was no escaping it tonight: Sara Sidle was going to have to go down to autopsy. She had managed to avoid the place all week, and thankfully, everyone had assumed she was still cooling down from her run in with the new coroner the week before. If they only knew, she thought to herself. However, even that excuse was getting a little old; especially when the coroner had sent her an apology in the form of an enormous arrangement of flowers. Sara knew that she would have to deal with the woman soon enough, but she had been hoping to get a better handle on her emotions before that happened.

Things had been going so much better with Grissom, so when Sara learned of the longstanding relationship between him and the new ME, she was in complete shock. She had to admit that Grissom seemed very comfortable with the younger woman, and he also had been much happier since her arrival. Sara just wished that she had been the reason for his happiness.

As she walked down the stairs to the morgue she mourned for the loss of the opportunity to be with Grissom, but she also chastised herself for making wrong assumptions. She had always assumed that one of Grissom’s biggest hang-ups about a relationship with her had been their age difference. Having met Dr. Stephanie MacInnerney, she realized that was not case, since Sara easily had five or more years on the young pathologist.

No, Sara had decided that Grissom was more shallow than she had originally thought. After all, each of the women he had been linked to were all exceptional beauties; classically beautiful women. First there was the anthropologist; the sultry blonde with the gentle soul, intelligence and calm Sara wished she had. Then there was Lady Heather; by all accounts a ravishing beauty who was able to match Grissom point for point when it came to classical literature. And then came Sofia; the sexy, passionate and intelligent former CSI, turned detective. Each of them had exceptional traits, both physically and mentally. Grissom was obviously attracted to gorgeous, intelligent women who were all larger than life, and by default Sara assumed that his lack of interest stemmed from her just not being one of those kinds of women.

This latest woman was no different; Dr. MacInnerney was young for a doctor, having finished school early. Greg had even referred to her as a genius, and after reading her reports from the last two weeks, she had to admit that it was very possible. But it was her beauty that struck everyone who met her. She was taller than most of the men around the lab, so when she walked into a room or down a hall, everyone noticed. When she stood up, it was impressive and intimidating, and she used it to her advantage; Sara had already gotten a little taste of that during their first meeting. And not only was she tall, there was nothing gangly or awkward about her height. Instead, the woman was obviously very athletic: the delicate definition of the muscles on her arms was a strong indicator of her physical conditioning. She had heard from Warrick that the woman once played collegiate basketball, so she was obviously in very good shape. However, it was probably her hair that most people remembered and commented on, as it was the absolute perfect shade of auburn. The color was deep and rich and it caught your eye immediately as it sparkled in any setting. She kept it at a shorter length than most people would, but the curl in her hair gave it so much body, that it did not appear to be too short. And to match that luscious red hair, she had the deepest green eyes Sara could ever recall seeing before. They shined like precious gems when she spoke or smiled, and even Sara was stricken with their unfathomable clarity. Her smile would probably be the other thing that people were smitten with, and it was most definitely a strong asset. Sara imagined she had undergone a lot of orthodontia to get a smile like that, but the fact was, it was only Sara’s jealousy that told her that, and the woman probably just had good genes for teeth. Finally, Sara thought, her skin was also striking. She had the faintest of freckles across the bridge of her nose but the rest of her skin resembled that of the finest porcelain dolls. To top it all off, Sara had surmised that the woman did not wear even the smallest trace of makeup. She was naturally beautiful in every sense of the word.

As she listed off each of the woman’s physical attributes in her head, Sara realized that it would be impossible to even dream of competing with someone like that for Grissom’s affections. Because, although she was a stunning beauty, she was, more importantly, Grissom’s equal (if not his superior) intellectually.

So, Sara Sidle had resigned herself to finally getting over Gil Grissom. She had made that decision, and the only thing she had left to do at that point was to follow through on her decision. To that end, Sara figured it would be easier if she could just avoid the two of them at all costs. She could deal with the situation a lot better if it was not being shoved down her throat at every turn. She had asked to adjust her schedule; using some lame reason for needing time off during the week, which gave her two days of uninterrupted avoidance of the new couple.

Since it was Saturday, she was safely headed off to Autopsy, sure that she would find the weekend guy slowly processing her DB. The weekend guy was slow, and he was sloppy, but he was not involved with Grissom, and that made him a much better choice at that moment in time. Pushing through the doors into Autopsy, she found Ricky, the weekend assistant, as he closed one of the drawers. “Hey Ricky.”

Ricky looked back at her with a worried expression on his face, and motioned for her to lower her voice, “Shhhhh…” Ricky looked back in the direction of the office.

Sara lowered her voice, but she did not understand the point of the exercise, “I don’t think the DB’s can hear us, man.”

Ricky laughed off her joke, “Nah… But the M.E. can.” He pointed towards the office, “Catching a few Z’s before the next one comes through.”

Sara scrunched up her face into a question mark, “Since when do we give the M.E.’s nap time?”

Ricky laughed again, “When they’ve been here for fourty nine straight hours… That woman is an animal!” He was still whispering and had turned back to the office, to make sure he had not woken the woman on the other side of the glass, so he did not see the terrified expression on Sara’s face.

When he turned back to face Sara, she had to think fast, “So, why has she been here that long?”

He just shrugged, as though he thought everyone already knew what was going on, “Well, she was covering for Doc Robbins anyway, since he had some conference this weekend… And they both had been covering for Doc Polaski all week, since his wife had an emergency delivery Monday… And last night, Travis walked out, so she got stuck in here with a gang shootout to sort through.” He looked back again, just to make sure his talking had not disturbed the woman. “Hell, she’s on her fifth assistant since she clocked in Thursday night! I can’t figure out how she’s still alive. ‘Bout an hour ago the County Coroner called and said he got Desert Palms Pathology to pick up some slack, so she’s only got the critical cases until Doc Robbins flies back from his conference in the morning.” He explained everything to a still dumbstruck Sara and failed to notice the stirring in the next room. So, to say he was shocked when the raspy voice emerged behind him was an understatement.

“And it won’t be soon enough.” Sara and Ricky both nearly came out of their skins when Stephanie croaked those words. The doctor rubbed at her face, as though she were trying to restore the circulation to her face with her hand, “What can I do for you, Ms. Sidle?” Obviously the woman had taken Sara’s avoidance this week as a sign she was still angry with her for their altercation. She was going to have to fix that before it became the elephant in the room no one talked about.

Before Sara could respond, Stephanie began a yawn that had obviously come from her toes, and as the yawn concluded she stretched her whole body upwards, and though she thought it was impossible, Sara was sure that the doctor looked even taller in that gesture. “Sorry about that… Kind of rude, but the only way I’m staying up right now.” And she launched into another mega-yawn, though this one was accompanied by the rubbing of her brow as the air escaped her mouth.

“Oh well… I didn’t mean to-… Well, you know wa-…” Sara took a deep breath and attempted to calm her nerves. When she found her resolve, she spoke again, “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had gotten stuck here this weekend. I was just looking for the report on the case I’m working…” She remembered how the doctor recalled her patients, so she recited the information back to her in that format, “Taylor, fourty six year old male, probable drowning?”

Stephanie nodded her head in acknowledgement, since she was entrenched in yet another yawn. She turned back into the office and re-emerged with a folder in her hands, “Here ya go… It’s all there.” The doctor walked back into the office and Sara could hear the sound of glass against porcelain as Stephanie poured herself a cup of coffee. When she came back out drinking from the mug, Sara and Ricky both could tell the taste was not what she was expecting.

“You okay, Doc?” Ricky asked with some concern.

She was still visibly wincing from the taste of the black liquid, “Did we replace the coffee with motor oil at some point?” She reached up to her mouth and spit something out into her hand, “And gravel?”

Ricky slammed his fist into his hand, “Dammit! That freaking coffee maker is a total piece of shit. That’s the second time this week it’s gone out.” He went into the office and grabbed the coffee pot, carried it into the Autopsy Room and poured the contents out into the waste sink. Sara could see chunks of foreign material falling out over the rim and had to wince herself.

When she turned to avoid the sight of the coffee pot being emptied, she saw Stephanie absently about to take another drink from her cup, so she reached out and put her hand over the cup as she attempted to remove it from the M.E.’s grip. “Oh man… Don’t drink that.” She handed the cup to Ricky who crossed the room again to empty the contents of it into the sink. Sara could not believe what she was about to do, but it seemed like the only logical thing, under the circumstances, “C’mon… I have a fresh pot of some of Greg’s secret stash that should be ready by now.”

Barely able to put two thoughts together at that moment, Stephanie was easily led out of autopsy, “I just need something to hold out for six and a half more hours on… Nothing special.”

“Well, then you’re in for a treat, because Greg has the best coffee in the place. And what he doesn’t know can’t hurt us.” The doctor made a noise that could have been a chuckle, if she had not been so exhausted.

When they reached the lab break room, Sara guided the doctor to sit in one of the chairs, and then she went to the sink to clean out a cup for her to use, and her own cup as well. Sara returned to the table with two mugs of hot coffee and tapped the doctor on the shoulder to get her attention so that she could pass her the mug. Slowly looking to her side, Stephanie found a steaming mug of coffee at her left shoulder and reached around to take the cup and cradle it between her hands. She blew across the top of the mug and then inhaled sharply to get the odor of the mystery coffee into her nostrils in the hopes that it would trigger some association with being awake in her brain. She was pleasantly surprised by the aroma of the coffee in her hands, and decided this might have been the best idea she had heard in the last (she mentally counted back the hours in her head for a moment) fourty nine hours. She blew across the top one more time, taking in the aroma once more before she dove in and took her first taste of the consciousness sustaining fluid.

The amazing taste of the coffee in her hands was enough to give her a moment of clarity. She was in the lab break room, having coffee with the one person she had not been able to create a positive working relationship with yet. Then she remembered Hodges. Well, leeches don’t count as people, she thought to herself. She was unable to hide the chuckle that escaped when she had that thought and Sara had an inquisitive look on her face.

“Something funny about the coffee?” Sara tried to be calm when she spoke, and she found that it was not as hard as she would have thought.

“Not the coffee… Just thought to myself, that I must be completely exhausted out of my mind, because I was sitting down having coffee with the one person who’d like to see me roasting on a spit, and that this stuff could have been poisoned.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Stephanie realized that not only was she tired beyond belief, but that she had just unleashed her dark humor on an unsuspecting and probably undeserving woman.

Sara nearly choked on her coffee in her bid to keep it from spraying all over the Break Room. She cleared her throat and then responded from instinct, “Roasted on a spit might be a little harsh, poisoning a little too gentle.” When she felt the other woman’s eyes on her, she turned her head slightly and raised her eyebrow to its unbelievable height.

That was when they both burst out laughing, with the tension draining from each of them with every breath. Sara was overcome with a sense of relief in the act itself. She had been burying everything for days now and it had been eating away at her soul. Everything she had heard about this woman made her think that under different circumstances she would have been interested in getting to know her better, but the green-eyed monster had prevented that from coming to pass, until now.

Stephanie was the first to speak, “Look, I know I was a total jerk last week, and really am sorry for the whole mess. I hope this means that we can get past that…” She sat back in her chair as she attempted to form another thought.

Sara had beat her to the punch, “You aren’t the only one… I have something of a reputation for overreacting, as I am sure you’ve heard, and I guess it was just hard to get past that.” She took a deep breath and knew in her heart that what she was about to say was important and needed to be done, “And if you can forget that I am a cast-iron bitch, I can forget about the hot-headed, total jerk thing… Deal?”

Stephanie let out a deep sigh before she answered, “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all week…” With the removal of the regret from their first meeting, and the stimulation of the coffee, Stephanie had to add one more thing, “And I never thought you were a cast-iron bitch… Aluminum, maybe.” The two women shared some hearty laughter and enjoyed their coffee.

It was not long before the two began to talk about everything that had gone on in the lab that week, their professional backgrounds, where they had worked, what their goals were, and their theories about certain evidentiary practices and procedures. Sara regaled her with stories about the others in the lab, tried to warn her about Hodges and gave her tips for dealing with a few of the more challenging men in the office. That was when the topic rolled into Stephanie’s various altercations with Hodges over the last two weeks. She had told Sara about the incident down in autopsy that Warrick had walked in on, and how if he had not walked in at that moment, she was about to shove the infuriating little man into one of the drawers and walk away. Sara had to agree that it probably would not have done any good.

By the time Stephanie was paged to return to the morgue, more than an hour had passed, and they had gone through two pots of Greg’s best coffee. Sara could not believe that she had spent all that time talking with the woman who had just taken Grissom away from her. But she had to admit that Stephanie was an amazing woman, and no matter how much she might want to hate her because of what she represented, she simply could not hate this woman. Stephanie was intelligent, kind, funny, morose, quick-witted, sarcastic, positive and damn talented. She knew in that moment that they might not be the best of friends, simply because of the situation they were immersed in, but Sara was not going to make her an enemy either.

As Stephanie made her way down to Autopsy once again, she was struck with an odd revelation. She had just spent nearly two hours with Sara and not once, in any of their stories or ramblings had either of them mentioned Gil. Stephanie could not recall if she had tried or not, just that the topic never seemed to get around to him. In fact, she was quite certain that a couple of times the conversation may have been steered away from the topic by Sara. She made a mental note to talk to Catherine about this revelation when they met at the diner before shift tomorrow.

Chapter 17

Catherine took a seat in her usual booth at the diner and prepared to enjoy her meal alone. She had made plans to meet Stephanie for something to eat before their shift tonight, but when she checked in at the office before heading over to the diner, Catherine learned that the new medical examiner had pulled a marathon shift over the previous few days, so she expected the young woman to be spending the night recovering at home. The waitress had already brought her some coffee and taken her order, and Catherine decided the quiet would be a welcome change tonight.

The last couple of weeks had been jam-packed with activity and new developments; the greatest of which was the arrival of Dr. Stephanie MacInnerney. The vibrant and incredibly sharp young woman had immediately impressed Catherine with her intelligence and quick wit. She also realized that Stephanie had most of the males in the department on their ears with her striking beauty. Catherine had found in the young doctor someone she could relate to in a way that she had been missing in her recent life. The girl was bright, but she was also brash, and Catherine felt in her a kindred spirit. Even at their first meeting, Catherine knew that this woman was someone she was going to enjoy getting to know. And when she learned about her connection to Gil, it made it all the more tantalizing to learn more about this new woman. What she had learned so far was that Stephanie had fast become a good friend as well. They shared a great many things, including their desire to look after the one person they had in common. As she sipped from her coffee cup, Catherine smiled one of her most feline smiles.

“Well, that look makes me think you’ve got something going on.” Catherine was shocked out of her introspection by Stephanie’s sudden arrival. The young woman signaled to the waitress as she scooted across the seat and took her place in the opposite side of the booth from Catherine.

“What the devil are you doing here?!” Catherine was completely surprised to not only see the young doctor, but to find her wide awake and apparently cheerful.

“Weren’t we meeting before shift tonight?” Stephanie gave her a puzzled expression, but before Catherine could respond, the waitress arrived.

“What can I get you, honey?” The ancient Vegas waitress croaked her question as she poured Stephanie a cup of coffee.

“Ahhh.. Scrambled egg whites, whole grain toast, orange juice, fries, sausage links and a fruit bowl?” Stephanie looked up at the woman and smiled at her with a warmth the veteran waitress was not used to, and she was so caught up in it that she smiled back.

“Alright, honey… Comin’ right up.” She even patted Stephanie on the shoulder before she walked away chuckling to herself. Stephanie seemed to have that affect on everyone.

Catherine shook her head in disbelief, “How in the world can you be so perky after pulling a fifty plus hour shift that ended what… Thirteen hours ago?”

Stephanie took a sip from her coffee cup and smiled before answering. “That’s easy… Nine hours of sleep, an hour of fantastic sex,” Catherine practically choked on her coffee, “resolving one of my biggest problems in a single revelation, and FINALLY putting to rest the problems with a coworker yesterday. Makes the next day one of the best ever.” It was Stephanie’s turn to take on a feline expression of satisfaction.

Catherine smirked at the young woman’s explanation, “Well, whatever it is you’ve got, would you please bottle it and give me some? I would still be trying to unscramble my brains after pulling that kind of a shift.”

“Follies of youth?” Catherine’s expression of unwanted surprise was enough to elicit a laugh from the younger woman. “Sorry, I use that joke a lot… Happens when you’re always the youngest person in the room.”

She had to give her that, and she just shook her head, “Well, it’s good to see you either way.” Catherine thought a little more about what Stephanie had said before, “Which coworker?”

“Oh, um, I got the air cleared with ah, Sara last night.” She scooted back in the booth seat and stretched her legs out on the bench. “You know what? She’s really pretty cool, and man, she’s got one amazing mind. I was totally blown away by some of the things we talked about.”

Once again, Catherine was completely shocked by the things this girl was able to accomplish. “Wait, you got Sara to talk? About real stuff?”

“Once we got past the normal crap, we had a really nice talk… Until I got paged to go back to the morgue, that is.” She took another sip from her coffee cup. “I’m still waiting for that slow time David talked about.”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.” They both chuckled and then sat up straight as the waitress arrived with their food.

“Okay, ladies… One Denver Omelet and an English Muffin.” She set the food down in front of Catherine, “And one mostly healthy, absolutely enormous breakfast for the youngster.” Once she had finished putting all the food down she planted a hand on her hip, “Sure you can handle all that food, Sweetie?”

Stephanie looked over the plates with a voracious glint in her eyes, “Oh yeah… Besides, this is probably the only meal I’ll get until tomorrow morning.” She and Catherine both laughed at her comment, but mostly because they both knew it was more true than not.

The waitress walked away shaking her head with a smile on her face, and left the two women to start in on their food. For all appearances, nothing seemed to be on their minds as they ate, but as they each made an impact on the food before them, the small talk kicked in.

“I almost forgot! Thomas found that old study guide for Lindsay when he was unpacking this weekend.”

Catherine swallowed the morsel in her mouth before responding, “Oh great… I’m sure she’ll appreciate it as much as that other stuff you gave her for school.” Catherine smiled at the thought, “We both had a blast with you guys last week, and Linds is really taking a shine to you two… But, I think she might have a little crush on Thomas.”

Stephanie just chuckled as she spread the butter on her toast, “Well, I can’t blame the girl. I mean, he is a total babe.” Both women laughed heartily at the joke.

“So, what was that you said about solving your biggest problem?” Catherine was never one for much small talk.

“Oh! Yeah, after everything that’s happened the last couple weeks, I decided planning a wedding is NOT on my list of things to do right now.” She had just dropped a time bomb, but Stephanie looked like she had done nothing more than given a weather report.

Catherine, on the other hand, looked like she was about to choke on her last bite of English Muffin. “You cancelled your wedding?”

“God no!” Stephanie shook her head as she quickly chewed the food in her mouth, “No… I just decided, and Thomas agrees, we’re just gonna fast track the whole thing and get it over with.”

“Get it over with?” Catherine shot her a carefully raised eyebrow.

“Real romantic, huh?” Stephanie laughed at her own joke before finishing her answer, “I know, I know, but you have to remember, Thomas and I have been together for seven years, and we’ve been engaged for more than five of those.” It was with that thought that she got serious, “I already messed up with waiting this long, and I don’t want to keep making the same mistake.”

Catherine saw the far away look in Stephanie’s eyes and had to know the reasoning behind her answer, “What mistake was that, Steph?”

“Cath, I’m an only child, and my parents had me late in life to boot… Because I got it in my head that I didn’t want to deal with a marriage in case Thomas and I got separated by our careers, my Pop died before he got to walk me down the aisle.” A small lump formed in Catherine’s throat, and she guessed that maybe she was not as cynical as everyone thought she was after all. “So, I’m not gonna wait any longer to plan some elaborate party that I don’t need. I’m just gonna find a priest, get a place for a few people to watch and marry that man before anything else happens.” Stephanie flashed Catherine with a smile, but she was almost positive that a tear was threatening to come loose.

Catherine reached across the table and laid her hand on the younger woman’s forearm, “Well, then tell me what you need and I’ll see if I can’t help make it as painless as possible.” Catherine gave her one of those killer smiles of hers and a little wink.

Stephanie took a deep breath, “Well, if you’re serious… Neither of us has any idea where to do this thing.” She thought about that statement for a moment. “That’s not true… If we have it in a Vegas wedding chapel, my mother will never speak to me again.” Both women enjoyed a hearty laugh at the off-hand comment.

“Honey, I would never speak to you again if you did that… So, give me a day or two and I’ll have something perfect for you guys… Did you have a date in mind?” Catherine pulled out her calendar and was ready to jot down some notes.

“Two weeks from yesterday.” Not for the first time in the last two weeks, Catherine found herself speechless, and her face showed every ounce of it. “Now, before you go thinking I’ve completely lost my mind… Thomas’ best friend is leaving Vegas in three weeks, two of our friends living in Chicago are going to be finishing their honeymoon here that weekend, Thomas’ sister will actually be in town that weekend, and my Mom will be here on Friday and staying for two weeks. The timing is perfect.” She followed up her explanation by taking in a big mouthful of eggs.

Catherine still had a hard time processing all the information Stephanie had just given her, but she really did not need to in order to help. “Okay, so I have less than two weeks to get you a place that I wouldn’t be ashamed to have a wedding in,” Catherine wrote a few things down in her datebook. “Hey, what about a dress?”

Stephanie worked to swallow the food in her mouth so she could respond as she shook her head, “No problem there… I can just use Mom’s.” She took a drink of her juice to clear her throat before continuing, “She’s a little shorter than me, but I didn’t want anything floor length anyway. And I know it fits, because when we got engaged she had me try it on.”

“Well, that’s at least something…” Catherine looked up from her datebook, “Is there anything else we need to worry about?” The young woman looked like she was thinking about something, but Catherine could tell she still had something up her sleeve. “Alright… Out with it, missy.”

She smiled broadly, and then sat back in her seat, “Well, I really only need help with one more thing…” Her pregnant pause was enough to warrant an eyebrow raise from Catherine in anticipation of what this fiendish young woman was plotting, “Uncle Gil.”

That time Catherine nearly did a spit take right there at the table, “Oh Honey… I think you might be on your own with THAT project. You’d have better luck solving the Riddle of the Sphinx.” Both women laughed in agreement.

“No seriously… It’s really not that big a deal… I just need to get him to give me away at the wedding and find him a girlfriend… How hard could that be?”

Stephanie took another drink from her glass as Catherine stared at her with her mouth hanging open in disbelief. She was struck dumb by such a casual remark regarding the single most enigmatic man she had ever known. In her experience, nothing with Gil Grissom was “not a big deal.” And what Stephanie was proposing was something she had been trying to accomplish for years. Catherine thought to herself, How in the world does this kid think she can perform that kind of miracle? She tried to recover her faculties of speech before responding to the comment, “Steph, I’ve been trying to figure out that last part for years, and the only thing I came up with was that your uncle just wasn’t meant to be in a relationship with anyone.”

Stephanie eyed Catherine doubtfully. “If you really thought that, you’d have given up on him years ago. He’s not an easy guy to even be friends with, let alone as close as you two are. And I know, despite the rumor running through the whole lab, that you two never had anything beyond friendship.” Stephanie stacked her plates as she talked, “Uncle Gil is complicated and has a ton and a half of baggage, but he’s not impossible. Frustrating, yes… Pig-headed, sure… Stuck in his head most of the time, no doubt… Completely obsessed with his work, absolutely…” The more she listed off Gil’s traits, the more Catherine understood where she was going with this line of thought, “But when it comes down to it, the man is powder keg of emotion and passion, just waiting for the right person to have that one match that will light his ridiculously complex fuse.”

Catherine was in absolute awe. This young woman had just completely summed up what had taken her years to even hint at about a man that she considered a very dear friend. Gil had been one of her biggest supporters when she became a CSI, and he was the only one there for her during the whole mess with Eddie; before, during and after the divorce. Even when he was driving her completely crazy, she always knew that he would be there for her if she needed him. She looked down into her swirling coffee cup and started shaking her head, “Are you sure you’re only twenty six?”

“Last time I checked.”

“Because that was the most insightful description of that man I have ever heard, and some twenty six year old, punk kid should not have that much wisdom crammed into her head.” Stephanie actually blushed at Catherine’s compliment, confirming her affection for the girl. “Okay, great wise child, since I’m sure you have some kind of plan, what do you have in mind?”

“I’ve met a couple people that could definitely be some possibilities… But I was looking for some background from you.” Stephanie’s eyes opened wide suddenly, “Oh yeah! And what are you doing Friday night?”

Catherine looked down at her datebook and then searched her mind, “Ah, nothing that I can think of.”

“Great! You’re coming to a dinner party at our place and meeting my Mom.” The devilish glint in her eyes had returned, “And making sure Uncle Gil doesn’t wimp out at the last second… Just tell him you needed a date or something.” With that comment, Catherine was convinced the girl was trying to make her spit out her coffee at some point tonight. “Okay, now I’m pretty sure Sofia is out, just from what Thomas told me about her… Way too high maintenance.”

Catherine shook her head at Stephanie’s observation of the CSI turned detective, “That’s the understatement of the century.”

“See, that’s why I needed to talk to you about this… I can’t even get Gil to say ‘sex’ around me.” Once again Catherine nearly lost her coffee. “Anyway, what do you know about his history with Sara?” That was the last straw for Catherine, and immediately after spitting her coffee out all over the tabletop, she was reaching for the napkins. “That good, huh?” Stephanie handed her another napkin as Catherine looked up at her in slightly amused disbelief.

Shaking her head as she got the rest of the coffee cleaned up, and glancing at her watch, Catherine panned, “Honey, we don’t have enough time in the world for that discussion.”

Chapter 18

Catherine appeared in the doorway, leaning hard on the frame, but Gil, completely caught up in whatever he was doing, did not notice. She cleared her throat loudly, but still nothing. “GIL!”

His head shot up from over the laptop screen, “Catherine?”

“Finally… Look, we have a full caseload tonight, and I’m gonna have to tear you away from the lab to help out… Do you mind?” She worked very hard to keep the amusement from her voice, but Catherine knew she was going to be enjoying this.

Grissom looked around his desk, as though he was hoping there was something there that would help him get out of going out in the field tonight. When his search proved fruitless, he grabbed his clipboard and stood up, “I suppose not…” He replied and gestured for her to lead the way, “Lead on, MacDuff.”

Catherine just shook her head and let loose a quiet laugh at Grissom’s constant need to remind people just how much he had read. She turned and strode through the hall of the lab with her usual aire of confidence, secure in the knowledge that she had earned her stripes and delighted in the notion that she was finally going to have an opportunity to pay Grissom back for all their years of friendship. She and Stephanie had come up with a plan of attack for the coming week, and she had to admit, the girl was more cunning than she had given her credit for in the beginning. These two fiery women were going to unleash their devices in an attempt to help Gil Grissom open his eyes and his heart for the first time in far too many years.

Before their shift, the young woman had revealed to Catherine that her dear uncle had once been a very different man from the closed off shell he had become, and Catherine had revealed that there was something unspoken and unrequited between Gil and Sara that had been simmering below the surface for years. Catherine had the suspicion that Stephanie had not given her the full details, but neither had she. Gil was still her friend, and some things just should not be shared. She did not talk about Sara’s jealousy regarding the potential Sofia fiasco and she did not dare let her know about the whole Lady Heather situation.

Over the last two weeks, Catherine had a heard a great many stories about Gil that just did not fit with the image she had of the man. In fact, she had a hard time imagining him doing most of the things that Stephanie had described to her. The only way she was able to reconcile the young woman’s image of Gil to her own, was that she surmised in Stephanie, he had found a safety net; a person who held no expectations of him and simply cared for him unconditionally. And within that safety, he risked nothing in opening himself up to this young woman. Catherine knew that Gil Grissom was all about weighing risks, and his convictions were nothing more than a shield to hide his cowardice for life, but it was in that thought that Catherine realized Stephanie was the undamaged version of Gil; free of whatever secrets that held him in the grips of fear from loss. She was brilliant, possessed a keen wit, was well read, of strong moral fiber, with a well-rounded sense of humor, and was humble and dedicated: just like Gil. But she was also confident, demonstrative, open, outwardly caring, adventurous, self-aware and filled with an incredible zest for life; which was everything Gil was lacking.

When they entered the break room to dispense assignments, Catherine was even more certain that this little plot was going to be deliciously fun and unbelievably satisfying in the end. As she looked across the faces of the waiting CSI’s she felt some of that wonderful feeling welling up inside. Time to set the wheels in motion, Cat.

“Okay, looks like we have a hot night for us…” She started by handing Nick an assignment sheet, “Nicky, I need you to take Greg out on this one.” Nick took the sheet and examined it as she continued, “At first glance, it was a simple B&E, but the owner showed up and wanted to know where his safe was.”

Nick looked up, “They took the whole safe?” He was shaking his head of the thought of what that had to look like, and nudged Greg in the side, “Hey, at least we can rule out the guy on the bike, huh?” Everyone laughed at his reference to Sara’s smash and grab suspect from last week.

“Very funny, Cowboy.” Sara was the only one not actually laughing, though she wore her signature smirk.

“Warrick,” Catherine handed over two assignment slips to him, “You get to be the running man tonight.” She flashed a smile his way when he winced at her comment, “Trick roll at the Palms and a print lift at a burglary.” She flipped through her notes before continuing, “Desert Valley Vending and Supply.’

Warrick lifted an eyebrow at the last case, “Vending machine burglary? You gotta be kidding… How is that our business?”

Catherine gave him a non-committal shrug, “When it was the tenth hit in a week, and they got away with two grand tonight. That makes it our business, and you’ll be going back to the company warehouse to print the other machines hit as well.” She went back to her notes again, “PD thinks it’s a group that just moved into the area, and Detective Vega thinks it might be one of the L.A. gangs that’ve been trickling into town lately.” Warrick nodded his understanding and she moved on.

She put her notes down and looked up to find everyone with their eyes squarely on her, “And as I am sure you all have heard… We have a high profile triple at the Bellagio, and I’ve convinced Grissom to come out of his cave to assist me on that one, with Sara as backup.” She looked around the room and found a few sly looks forming on the faces of her coworkers, but no one was about to say anything. When it came to Sara and Grissom working a case together, everyone hated the tension, but no one could deny the results. They also knew that Catherine could probably have handled it just fine with only Sara, but the two women tended to clash at times, and Grissom would act as the buffer between them, while Catherine kept him and Sara at bay as well. Catherine, on the other hand, knew that she was putting them together for a very specific reason that had little to do with the work itself. “So, if no one has any questions… Let’s get a move on people.”

It would be a whole new ballgame tonight, and Catherine was the only one with the rulebook. Under her breath, she added her own little quote for the situation, “Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy night.”

Chapter 20

Two weeks changes everything.

That thought was foremost in Stephanie MacInnerney’s mind as she posted her second body of the night. In the last two weeks, her life had completely changed. In two weeks, it would change again, and that thought made her smile.

That smile was the first thing Warrick Brown saw as he entered the Autopsy Room, and it brought a grin to his own face. He had to admit, this woman had delivered a much needed injection of zest for life into CSI headquarters. The irony of that, with her being a coroner, was not lost on him.

Before she noticed that there was anyone else in the room, Stephanie made her final notes to the drawer index and then slammed the drawer shut on another case. Her first indication that there was another in the room was the groan that escaped Warrick’s mouth at the crashing sound of the drawer closing: metal against metal. “Hey… When did you get here, Mr. Lightweight?”

He crinkled his brow in confusion as cocked his head back and to the side, “Lightweight?”

Stephanie laughed at his response and walked to the other side of the room as she explained, “Oh… I heard all about your little ‘boys’ night out.’” She chuckled when he winced at the memory. “What ever possessed you to think you could out drink a group of surgeons?” She shook her head with her question, “Those guys live to party.”

Warrick tried to shrug it off, “Hey, I grew up in Vegas, I figured I could handle a bunch of transplant college boys.”

“Yeah, well, that was your first mistake…” She gave him a disapproving look and then laughed, “Your second one was trying out drink any man whose name begins with ‘O’.”

Warrick scrunched up his face in a puzzled expression, “’O’? I don’t get it.”

Stephanie could not contain her amusement, “You know, like O’Halloran… Or should I say ‘O’My God He’s Irish?’” Warrick reeled back at the obvious jab.

“Yeah, well I learned my lesson… No more playing with the big boys, unless I plan to add alcoholism to my list of achievements.” He tried to play it off, but he really was still feeling a little out of it from Friday night (or was that Saturday morning?). He had also decided the whole thing was Stephanie and Tina’s fault; if they had not both had to work late, he would have never run into Thomas and “the boys” as they left the hospital for a night of drinking at the clubs. Although, he had to admit, it was a welcome change to be hanging out with “the boys.” He just needed to re-learn what his limits were, especially with that crew.

“Now, don’t go overreacting… Thomas had a great time, even if he and Carter did have to carry you in the door for your wife.” She gave him a wink to add insult to injury.

He contemplated that piece of information a moment, “Hmmm… I wondered how I’d made it all the way to the bedroom.” They both laughed at his comment. “Anyway, what I remember was good. That Thomas is a right guy... And a lucky SOB to boot.” His wink added emphasis to the compliment and elicited a slight blush from Stephanie.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna keep him… Until something better comes along, of course.”

Warrick dipped into a small bow, “I’d expect nothing less.” Stephanie’s cheeks blushed once more and Warrick decided he had better get his business taken care of or he would spend all night down there relaxing. “So, were you able to get anything on that case from last night? I asked Doc Robbins to leave it for you since you are the exotic COD Queen lately.”

She laughed in response, “Yeah, I’ve got that one… Report’s there on the table.” She walked towards the ringing phone, adding, “And nothing exotic there,” just before answering. “Autopsy… Okay, David… Three inbound, got it… Just finished so we should be good to go if we tag team it… Oh, well I’m sure they can lend a hand on the back end… Right, twenty minutes… I’ll have the coffee ready… Bye.”

Warrick gestured at the phone she had just hung up, “Must be that triple Cath and Gris went out on, huh?”

“Yeah, David said it was a pretty messy scene, so they’ll be there a while processing.” She walked over to the supply room and grabbed a fresh box of gloves and drapes. “And we need to get the bodies ready for ID right away, so we’ll have to make sure we collect and document everything before the family arrives so they can be made presentable.”

Warrick looked around the room and brought his arms up in a resigned gesture, “Well, I got nothin’ going on right now, while I wait for about six hundred prints to process through APHIS. You want some help with prep?”

She sent him the warmest smile he could remember seeing in a long time, “I could kiss you right now.”

He gave her a mock expression of fear and surrender, “No way, Lady… I’ve met your husband, and I ain’t got a death wish.” She was laughing pretty hard when she reached into the closet again and took out some spare scrubs to throw at him. “What? I hold no illusions that homeboy couldn’t wipe the floor with my butt in half a heartbeat.”

She flashed him her infectious grin and said, “Well, he did spend three years doing just that at UCLA.”

Warrick shot her a puzzled expression, “Doing what?”

“He was a first string tight end for the Bruins… And boy was he.” That comment brought the blush to Warrick’s cheeks. “He quit when the coach told him he needed to spend less time in the A&P lab and more time in the weight room.”

Warrick searched through his arsenal of sports statistics from back in his gambling and bookmaking days until he finally made the connection, “Wait, THAT is ‘Tommyboy’ O’Halloran?!” Stephanie shrugged an answer in the affirmative, “Wow! That guy had balls.” He was a little thrown back from having talked like that in front of a woman, and tried to recover quickly, “Well, I mean that took some nerve to walk away from what could have been a serious NFL career.”

She was unable to contain her laughter with his last comment, “Obviously, they never got a look at his knees! He spent the entire time between graduation in December and the start of med school the following September having his knees reconstructed and going through rehab.” She shook her head at the notion that Thomas could have ever played professional sports, “That boy has more metal in those legs than most new cars.”

Warrick shook his head as he processed the information. “Well, he was good, and he helped win me some money a few times.”

Stephanie gave him a concerned look, “I didn’t know you were a betting man.”

Warrick chuckled at that notion, “In my younger days… Ended up costing me a lot more than money, so I put that in the history column.”

Stephanie crossed over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Well, I’m happy to hear that… ‘Cause I’d hate to have to kick your ass.” When his eyes shot up to meet hers, he found a fiendish smile waiting for him, and returned it with one of his sideways grins.

“Well, now that we got that out of the way… I’m gonna go throw these on before David comes wheelin’ in.”

Suddenly, from behind them, Catherine came striding into the room, “Awww… What we don’t get to watch?” She let one of her suggestive winks punctuate her off-color remark.

Warrick laughed because Catherine was probably one of the few women who could get away with a remark like that. As he thought about it, his shift seemed to be filled with the only women he could imagine being able to get away with it and that brought out his full-on electric smile. “Do we need you girls to attend one of them sensitivity training sessions or something?”

Stephanie and Catherine looked at each with a conspiratorial glint in their eyes, and Stephanie said, “Would you like to handle that one, or should I?”

Once again, Warrick was holding up his arms in a gesture of surrender, “No way… I’m gonna sneak away before I really get embarrassed. You win.”

Catherine feigned disappointment with a pout, “Well, he’s no fun at all.” They both laughed at the humor of the situation, as Warrick disappeared into the bathroom.

“So, what are you doing here? David said you guys had one hell of a scene to process.” Stephanie turned back to prepping her supplies.

“Yeah, well, I left Grissom and Sara there after I made a deal with the hotel manager.” She looked back at the doors, as though she was making sure the coast was clear, “And I came back here with David to steal Nicky and Greg in order to keep my word. But I wanted to talk to you real quick before the boys bring the bodies down.” Stephanie returned her full attention to Catherine, “Look, I think we’re gonna need a little more help getting those two there… Let’s enlist Warrick.”

Stephanie checked both doors, “You think so? What’s up?”

“Well, the waters have cooled a little on one side of the pond as of late, and Warrick is the perfect person to coax it back into the sun. I can handle Gil, but my history with Sara is not stellar. So, getting Warrick in on this would go a long way to making it a success.”

“Right,” Stephanie caught a glimpse of Nick coming to the doors of the Autopsy Room, “Well I guess if you had to make a deal like that, you better get the guys over there.” She hoped that Catherine had caught on.

“Yeah, so I’ll leave Warrick here to help you and David to get them ready and take the guys with me to get that scene processed as quickly as possible.” She had caught on and once Nick and Greg were in the room, she turned around and hooked her arms through both of theirs and led them out of the room. “Let’s get moving, boys.” They both waved behind them at Stephanie and she laughingly returned their farewell.

When Warrick re-emerged from the bathroom, he found Stephanie, David and three corpses, “Talk about a let down… From two beautiful women teasing me to David and three DB’s.”

David looked up from his task and said, “And good evening to you, too Warrick.”

Chapter 21

The bellman cart that sat in the hallway was under the guard of two of LVPD’s finest and was laden with evidence boxes. Inside the room where the cart was parked, it appeared as though a chop shop crew had come for a visit. Large swathes of carpet were missing, the artwork had been visibly removed from the walls, there was not a scrap of linen to be found, and every single object that was not nailed down had been packed up. As Catherine and Grissom surveyed the room with their hands planted firmly at their waists, Nick and Greg continued to tote the evidence boxes into the hallway.

“Looks like we have set a new record for stripping a hotel room in this town.” Catherine said with a grin on her face.

“Did we remember the towels?” Grissom gave a little wink.

Catherine slapped her hips and turned to face Grissom, “Okay, well, I’m gonna take the boys and the evidence back to the lab. I assume you’ll finish up here and then work the bodies while we start processing the other evidence?” Catherine looked away when the hotel manager appeared in the doorway, and to avoid Grissom’s watchful gaze so that he would not sense her ulterior motives.

Grissom followed her gaze to the door and they both nodded at the man standing there, “Yeah, as long as you deal with that guy again.” Both of their faces displayed the same amused smirk.

Catherine tipped her gaze at the floor, “You got it… See you back at the lab.” And with that Catherine walked over to the hotel manager and began to play the political game with him as she started down the hallway with Nick and Greg pushing the bellman’s cart; the officers in tow. Grissom watched them depart and shook his head at the humor of the situation.

He turned back to scan the suite once more before he blew out a deep breath. Then he reached down to pick up his kit before heading into the bathroom area to finish his work. Upon entering the door, he looked around the very large room in search of something. When he lowered his gaze to the floor, his eyes found what he was looking for; Sara Sidle. She was lying on her back with her head and arms tangled up inside the cabinet of the jacuzzi tub, where most likely she was searching for any evidence that might have been caught in the traps. Grissom realized what a dedicated CSI she was when he saw her struggling to get further into the cabinet. He knew that most women would have passed on this task to one of her male counterparts. There were a great many things that Grissom admired in Sara, and they all struck him as he set his own kit down on the countertop that the younger woman had already marked as cleared.

Grissom carefully removed the tools that he would be using to assist Sara in processing the bathroom and set them out carefully on a tray. When he looked up from his tools, he was nose to nose with his own image in the mirror before him. He could see that the gray had finally won dominance in the hair on his head and in his beard, and that caused him to experience the pangs of vanity that he usually worked to avoid at all costs. He tried to remember just when time had become his greatest enemy. However, before he could sink any farther into his reverie, he was brought back to the scene by the sounds coming from behind him.

THUNK “Dammit!’ THWACK “Shit!”

Grissom turned to watch as Sara was wriggling violently inside the cabinet, almost as though she was trying to get even further inside. “Sara?”

BONK “Owwww… Yeah?” Her voice sounded distant and frustrated.

“Are you okay in there?” Grissom had bent down beside her and was trying to get a picture of what it looked like under there.

“I’m fine… But this drain trap is about to get shot.” CLANK “Son of a-.”

“Sara!”

“Look, you can either listen to me swear or you can help by getting that other panel off and see if there is a better angle for this damn pipe wrench.” It was quite obvious that Sara’s frustration level had reached its peak.

Grissom stood up and looked around with a puzzled expression, “What panel?”

“C’mon, Grissom…” BANG BANG BANG “Follow the noise, get that thing off, so I can try to get out of here.” Sara’s tone was anything but amiable, and in fact, Grissom got the distinct impression that she was truly angry at that moment.

He walked over to where the sound had come from and to his surprise, there was another panel which looked like it had come loose; most likely from the vigorous abuse it had just received. “Found it… I’ll have it off as soon as I can find the latch.”

From inside the cabinet, Grissom heard Sara distinctly sigh heavily, “There is no latch, Grissom… Get out the screwdriver… And hurry.” Grissom looked around for the screwdriver and when he found it he bent down again and started removing the screws from the panel. He was hurrying to get the panel off in an attempt to avoid anymore of Sara’s anger. Once he had all the screws out he lifted the panel and peered in to try and visualize the trap Sara was attempting to reach.

He hung his head in defeat when he realized the trap in question was well out of range of the space provided by the panel. “Sara, it’s not going to make a difference.”

BANG “That’s it!” There was suddenly a flurry of movement inside the cabinet and Grissom realized that she had started working her way back out of the cramped space. He stood up and moved back to the side of the tub were her legs were sticking out.

“Sara… Hold still.”

“Grissom, I need to get out of here if I am going to get at that trap, so just back off.” Sara’s anger was building.

“I said… Hold Still!” Thankfully, she stopped wriggling around and he bent down to get a good view of the situation, “Now, hand the tools through to me at your feet.” Again, she complied with his command, “Okay, now keep your arms free of any obstructions.”

It was very quiet inside the cabinet for a moment and Grissom was about to ask if everything was all right when he heard a resigned sigh, “What are you planning?”

“Well, you could spend the next ten minutes wiggling around to get out, or you can just let me pull you out of there.” He was not sure, but he almost thought he heard her breath catch in her throat. He pushed the thought aside, “Ready?”

He heard some movement inside the cabinet and then heard her blow out a breath, “Yeah, go ahead.”

He reached out to grab Sara by the ankles, careful to take a firm grip, and gingerly began to extricate her from the cabinet, inch by inch. “Okay so far?”

“Just keep going, I’m fine.” Grissom took her defeatist tone as just her wounded pride and proceeded to take hold of her again, this time at her calves. And again, inch by inch he slowly pulled her from the bathroom fixture. As he reviewed the situation, he realized that one more pull and she would be free of the tangle of pipes, wiring and supporting structures.

He reached up just a little higher and wrapped his hands around the underside of her knees and prepared to make that last pull, but was surprised by the sudden tensing he found in the muscles there. He immediately pulled his hands away, “Am I hurting you?” His words dripped with his deep concern, and he was growing even more apprehensive by her silence.

When he did not think he could stand it any longer, she cleared her throat, “No… I ah… I’m just ah… It just ahh… Well, it tickled.” Grissom would have breathed a sigh of relief, but Sara’s voice seemed unusually strained. He decided that it was probably nothing, but he was going to try and question her about it on the ride back to the lab.

“Oh, well, I was just afraid of pulling your knees apart by going lower… Are you ready now?” Grissom was explaining himself with total logic, but even he had to admit to himself that it was a somewhat awkward position to be in, and so he could understand her discomfort. At that moment, he just wanted to get her out of that cabinet and let them both move away from this uncomfortable situation between them.

“Go ahead… I’m ready now.” Her words were tense, but he took her at them and reached out once more to give her that final pull from the cabinet. When he looked down into her eyes once she was free of the inner workings of the tub, he was struck by the vulnerability he found there.

He held out his hands for her to take them and helped her to her feet, which brought her to within less than an inch of him. He gripped her around the waist when he thought she was struggling for balance and their eyes met once again. For Gil Grissom, time appeared to stop in that instant, and it was not until Sara broke the gaze by looking down that it started again. With the eye contact broken, Grissom suddenly felt the overwhelming tension of the situation as well as an undeniable urge to make that contact again.

Before he could say or do anything, Sara moved away from him and to the other side of the room to get something from the tool bag. Grissom took a steadying breath and spoke as a way of clearing the fog forming in his own mind, “Are you okay? I mean, you didn’t get hurt under there at all, right?”

“Nope… Not under there at all.”

Chapter 22

The Click/Pop/Whine of the camera leaked out into the corridor of the Autopsy Room. The repetitious sounds became almost like a cadence, and might have been soothing, were it not for the constant flashing. Warrick was going through the motions of the photographing process for the four bodies before him. They had started out with a triple that night, but another victim was found on scene and rushed to the hospital. About twenty minutes prior, the hospital had delivered the body; the victim did not make it.

He would never admit it to anyone else, but this was the part of the job that he was the most uncomfortable with; the documenting of the bodies. The images would stay with him for days, whenever he had to run this part of a case. It was one of the many things that made working a case with Sara or Catherine easier, because not only were they good at it, that kind of documenting was easy for them. They were able to detach themselves from the task, and break it down to the minutia. There were many times that Sara’s photos would yield information that they had not visualized without her detail work. Her ability to break a case down to the smallest pieces, while still seeing things in the big picture to work out the facts always seemed to amaze him, and he admired her ability to switch tracks seamlessly. He liked working cases with Sara because it helped him to look at things differently, and he figured some of her skills would rub off on him eventually.

He stepped back from the cleaning table to get a better view of the body as a whole and ended up bumping into the woman who was attempting to pass by, “Whoa there… You need some backup beepers on that thing.”

He lifted up his eyebrow at her comment, “’That thing?’”

Stephanie was laughing, “Oh please, like you don’t know.” Warrick blushed.

“You always this forward, Miss Thing?” He shook his head as he attempted to hide his obvious embarrassment.

“Nah… I think it’s just you.” That time he laughed. “So, are you done there yet?”

He checked his notes and nodded, “Yeah… I just need a couple reference shots and then he’s all yours.”

Stephanie plopped down on her stool and leaned her head back, rolling it around from side to side. “Man, isn’t this shift over with yet?”

“Not yet… You feelin’ that marathon shift still?” He clicked off a few more pictures to finish the roll and cleared the canister.

“Not really, I mean, yeah, I’m still a little drained… But truthfully, I’m just stressing a little bit.” She reached up and stretched out her shoulders one at a time.

“What do you have to be stressin’ on?”

Stephanie’s eyes snapped open at his question, “Oh yeah, you haven’t heard yet… Thomas and I sort of had a ‘Come to Jesus” about the wedding.”

“Do I dare ask?” Warrick’s expression showed his apprehension.

“Sure, we decided we just didn’t have the time or the patience for planning a serious wedding… So, we’re getting married in two weeks without all the fuss.” Warrick figured it had to be a good thing by the smile that graced her face.

“Oh, well… Then congratulations, I guess.” He laughed without reservation once he knew the situation and he reached for his cup of coffee.

“But first… I gotta get Gil sorted out.”

Warrick nearly choked on his coffee, “Somehow… I think you’re gonna need a lot more than two weeks for that one, girl.” It was Stephanie’s turn to laugh.

“Please, with me and Catherine on the case, we’ll have him on the right path by Friday.”

Warrick groaned when she mentioned Catherine’s involvement, “Well, just remind me to stay on your good side then, because you two together scares me just thinkin’ ‘bout it.”

“Oh that’s okay… Because we’re getting you in on it, too.” She pushed away on her stool to get started on the last body.

“Excuse me?” Warrick’s face held his expression of shock well.

“You heard the girl, Warrick.” Catherine sauntered across the Autopsy Room to stand between Warrick and Stephanie. “Besides, tell me you don’t want to be in on finally getting rid of all that tension on shift?” Catherine’s face once again showed her to be her feline self.

“You ladies are dangerous.” He rubbed at his chin with a smirk on his face, “But I gotta admit, if you ladies are as good as I think you are, it’s gotta be worth it… Count me in.”

Catherine winked at him and said, “Well, when we’re good… We’re very good. And-.”

“When we’re bad… We’re even better.” Stephanie added her own flair to the end.

Chapter 23

With his face obscured by the microscope, Sara stole a sideways look at Grissom. She was trying to wean herself from thinking about him, but it was simply not easy. It had become a habit, and some habits were just not easy to break. Grissom was not easy to break.

She shook her head, hoping to clear the thoughts from her mind and get back to work. She took a deep breath and rolled her neck around. She winced at a stinging feeling in her neck, and brought her hands up to examine the source. She found a sticky, raised line of tissue there and brought her hand back down to see what was now stuck to her finger. Sara stared at her hand for a moment with what she saw there not registering in her mind at first. However, her actions had not gone unnoticed, and she knew this when Grissom was instantly at her side, saying something to her. She blinked her eyes once, then twice. Finally, she was able to respond, “I’m fine Grissom… It’s just a scratch.”

“Sara, would you just let me get a look at it.” Grissom was being very insistent, and even though she wanted to, Sara knew there was nothing she could do. Grissom was relentless when it came to protecting his people.

So, she lowered her arms and surrendered her stance, “Fine, but it’s just a scratch.”

They were looking eye to eye when he spoke, “Let me be the judge of that.” He slowly reached up and gently brushed the hair away from her neck. For what seemed like an eternity their eyes were locked, but then Grissom broke the stalemate and tilted his head down to get a better look at her neck. When he got closer to her neck she stiffened slightly as she heard his breath near her ear, and she just hoped that he had not noticed. It was when his fingers came into contact with her neck that she was not able to hide her response. She nearly jumped off of her stool, and Grissom retracted quickly, for fear he had caused her pain, “I’m sorry… Is it that sensitive?”

Sara worked to recover fast, “Ah, no… Ah, your fingers… They’re um, they’re a little cold.” Grissom gave her a smirk and then rubbed his hands together to warm them up. When he reached up again and stroked the wound to examine it. Sara was lost in the sensation of his fingers on her neck, and she did not notice when he brought his head back around to look her in the eye. The look he found on her face, with her eyes half closed made the breath catch in his throat.

Grissom had to clear his throat in order to break the trance. “I need to get it cleaned up to have a better look.” Sara’s eyes immediately popped open, but he had already moved away.

She looked around, but she did not see him, and when he suddenly reappeared at her side she jumped. He held up the medkit with a grin on his face, “This should do the trick.” He turned to face the table and set up his first aide station. Sara took in a deep breath and tried to steel herself for his next ministrations. She needed all of her strength not to get caught up in the sensations that she had felt before. Sara knew that Grissom was just being his regular self, but she was just not ready for that kind of contact.

Grissom appeared to be taking an unusual amount of time putting together a cleaning preparation. Sara was about to tell him that she did not have all night to wait for this because she had evidence to process. However, she was not prepared for what happened next. “Okay, now just remember, I’m not used to my patients having a pulse, let alone being able to talk back.” Sara sat up bolt straight in shock.

Grissom called back to the woman who had just entered the room, “Hey Steph… I see you found your way here.”

“I had a map and some breadcrumbs, thank you.” Sara turned to see Stephanie walking towards her with her tongue stuck out at Grissom to show her lack of appreciation at his jibe, and their comfort together. “So, Sara, was he at least good looking?”

Sara was not sure what she was going to do or say, but she knew she had better think fast because she realized that her mouth was hanging open. “Ah… Umm… Huh?”

Stephanie was right beside her at this point, “You know… The vampire that thought it might be a good idea to go after someone like you?” Stephanie winked at her to show she was making a joke and then took the antiseptic and gauze from Grissom’s grasp and took a closer look at the wound on Sara’s neck. “Well, this doesn’t look too bad… Probably just a scratch, but with the fact that it broke the skin, if you haven’t had a tetanus shot for a while, you really should go in and get one. When was your last tetanus shot?” Stephanie did not wait for an answer and set about to clean the wound.

Sara thought back to when she had last received a tetanus shot, “It’s been less than two years.” She was desperately working to maintain her composure.

Stephanie was carefully removing the blood and grime from the area of the wound, “Hmmm umm… Well, double check your records and if you haven’t had one in longer, please holler at me and I’ll make arrangements for you to get one over at Desert Palms.” Stephanie was busy with her ministrations and was not really paying attention to Sara or her somewhat obvious state of distress. For a few moments, there was only the sound of Stephanie humming quietly as she went about her work. “So, did you catch that new piece they had on Discovery about the cicadas in the South?”

Sara was still having trouble thinking straight, and was even more shocked to having been asked a question about bugs from the coroner. “No, I missed it when it was on the first time, but I managed to get a recording of it when it came on the second time, I just haven’t been able to watch it yet. Was it any good?” Grissom was answering the question, and that was when Sara realized it had not been directed at her in the first place. That was also when her heart sunk just a little further.

“It had some interesting theories, but I was a little disappointed in it overall.” She was applying something cool to the wound on Sara’s neck, but nothing was going to make her real hurt go away at that moment. “I mean, they didn’t even cover the extended dormant period or the basis of the attraction in their thrumming.”

Grissom screwed up his mouth in a puzzled expression, “Seems hardly worth the effort if they weren’t even going to gloss over that information, because what else would they be basing their theories upon, if not the essential factors of their existence.”

“Exactly what I thought!” Stephanie was shaking her head in a show if disgust, she took one more look at her handiwork, then placed a layer of gauze over the scratch, and held her hand gently over the wound. “Okay, Sara… It was just a bit more than a scratch, but only a little. You should be able to take the bandage off in twenty four hours, and then just keep treating it with a small amount of topical antibiotic cream for about a week. That should keep it from scarring, and make it heal a little faster.” Once she was certain the bandage was firmly in place she removed her hand and looked Sara in the eye before she spoke, “Now, when you go to take this off tomorrow, take yourself a nice long soak. I used a liquid skin to cover it and hold the lac together, and it’ll make taking the bandage off a little tricky. So, give it plenty of time to soften up before you take it off, okay?” Stephanie grinned at Sara, and kept looking at her until she acknowledged her understanding.

Sara managed to hold herself together just long enough to let the woman know she understood her instructions, “Yeah… I’ll be careful, but for now, I really need to finish processing this evidence… If you don’t mind?” She had come across as solid and focused; the two things that Sara was the farthest away from at that moment.

“Sounds great… Just holler if you need me for anything, okay?” Sara nodded and Stephanie started putting the supplies back into her bag, leaving Grissom to close up the things from the medkit.

When Stephanie turned to leave the Processing Lab Grissom called after her, “Hold up, I’ll walk you back down and you can tell me about our victims.” Sara could not remember a time she was so glad to have Grissom leave her alone as she was in that moment.

Sara went back to her work. In her work, she was always strong, and it made so much more sense than the rest of her life. Her work was science, and it was structured. Her life, it was anything but structured.

Chapter 24

The boys were each going through stacks of paperwork toward the end of the first shift of the week. Warrick was waiting for the Photo Lab to finish developing the photographs he had taken of the victims from the quadruple murder that night at the Bellagio. However, he still had to finish putting the log of his photographs into the case file, and that was what he was working on there at the Break Room table. Nick and Greg were still cataloging everything that they had collected in the hotel room. Their joint report looked to be the winner for the night in terms of number of trees killed to document everything for that shift.

Nick looked up from his evidence log and had a pensive expression on his face. Warrick noticed him out of the corner of his eye and decided he needed some prodding to break up the monotony of their joint paperwork project, “Is that gas, or you got somethin’ on your mind?”

“Ha, ha, ‘Rick…” He smirked at the other man before answering, “No, I was just thinking; how did Catherine get the hotel manager to agree to let us practically strip that suite?”

“You’re kiddin’, right? I bet even Greggo there knows the answer to that one.” Warrick gestured in the younger man’s direction and Greg’s head popped up in response.

“Answer to what?” He was pulling the earphone out of his left ear.

Nick shook his head at Greg, “Why the manager of the Bellagio let us strip the suite?”

“Are you kidding? That was a suite for whales.” Greg shrugged off his question and bent his head back down into his evidence log and finished his answer, “They’re gonna have to completely remodel it before another one would set foot in it. So we just saved the hotel management a bundle in disposal costs.”

Warrick laughed at Nick and gave Greg a high five across the table, “Nice work… Good to see you payin’ attention, little man.”

Nick shook off their admonishment and went back to working on his own evidence log before asking another question, “So, am I the only who’s noticed Grissom lately?”

Greg was back into his own world of music, so he did not respond to Nick’s question, but Warrick sighed with exasperation, “Man, I don’t think I can handle three people crushin’ on the boss man ‘round here.”

“Screw you, bro.” Warrick laughed as Nick did not receive his joke well. “You know exactly what I’m talkin’ about… He’s practically been smilin’ lately.” Nick shook his pen at the other man, “And he’s been doing this for weeks now, slowly gettin’ better all the time.” Nick thought about it a little more, “I’d say it’s been goin’ on for ‘round a month now.”

“Yeah… The man has been a lot easier to work with lately.” Warrick realized that it was around the time that Stephanie had accepted the job in the morgue, but he was not about to say anything to that effect. He had made a promise, and he was going to keep it: nobody was finding out about Stephanie and Grissom from him. Well, almost nobody… But that ain’t ‘til Friday. He turned his attention back to Nick, “Why; you complainin’?”

“Hell no! I was just wonderin’ if he hadn’t finally got some or somethin’.” The two men were laughing at the humor of Nick’s statement. What they did not know was that Sara had been just about to walk into the Break Room when she caught the tail end of that discussion and then turned quickly to walk away. As she was rounding the corner in the hallway, she bumped headfirst into someone.

She might have fallen straight to the floor, had not a strong pair of hands gripped her at the shoulders and held her steady. She was making her apology when she finally recognized her victim, “Hey I’m really sorr-…” The words stuck in her throat, and she struggled to recover from the shock, “Ah, sorry, Grissom… I guess I was just-.”

“Thinking about something else? I think I understand the predilection.” He held her away from him and looked her over for a moment, “Are you okay?”

Every word was a fight to maintain her composure and she was not sure of anything that was coming out of her mouth at that moment, “Ah… Um… Yeah, I’m fine.” When he released his hold on her, she had finally broken eye contact with him and it had helped a little, “I just realized I’d forgotten something in the ah, the ah, the Trace Lab. So, I was heading back that way.” Sara had made it through another sentence, but she was almost sure that Grissom had noticed her difficulty.

“Actually, I snagged it when I was just there… No one needs to deal with Hodges this early in the week.” Grissom rolled his deep blue eyes at the mention of the infuriating tech from Trace, and the action nearly hypnotized Sara. Grissom continued, “Looks like you were right to be so persistent with those drain traps.”

At the word trap, Sara realized Grissom was talking again, and once again fought to break eye contact by taking the report from his fingers. “Yeah, that’s what it looks like.” Sara had no idea what she was agreeing to at first, but had figured it out as she forced herself to read the report and get control of herself.

“Anyway, good work on the tub. Because of you, we have a suspect to give the detectives.” Grissom looked down at his watch and then back up at Sara, “You know what? There’s only a little bit of time left in this shift… Why don’t you call it a night and get some rest.” He bent sideways and craned his neck around to get a look at the side of her neck, “I’m still worried about that cut, and we can finish up the paperwork before the end of shift. Besides, Catherine is still processing some of the stuff from the scene, and we’re likely to need some fresh eyes when we start up again tonight.” Grissom returned upright and gave her a little, half smile, and Sara’s heart melted even further. Without any regard to what he had just done to her Grissom walked away, leaving Sara to contemplate her predicament.

She whispered to herself as she headed for the locker room and her face sunk into a desolate expression, “Nick’s right… She is making him happy.”

Chapter 25

It had been a fairly uneventful shift at Desert Palms Hospital, but Dr. Thomas O’Halloran was still exhausted after spending nearly twenty of his twenty four hour shift finishing up patient charts and notes that had been neglected after the previous week’s rotating door in the Emergency Room. When he originally found out that he had not matched at any of the Los Angeles area hospitals, but instead had been chosen by Desert Palms, he was seriously depressed. But, after seven months at the Las Vegas hospital, he realized that in this environment he had made far more advances to his learning than he did in his previous time at UCLA, and far greater strides than his counterparts still in Los Angeles. At Desert Palms, he was the new hot shot resident surgeon. In Los Angeles, he would have been a number, or just another surgeon looking to make a name for himself. In Las Vegas he was performing cardiac re-sections following substantial gunshot wounds. In Los Angeles, he would still be operating on bowel obstructions and performing cut downs in the Emergency Room. As much as it pained him to be separated from the woman that he loved, he knew that he was a far greater surgeon because of the match that he had made and chosen to follow.

Fortunately for him, his fiancé was feeling the same pains of separation, and she was in a better position to find another job, since she had already completed her residency. Also in his favor was the fact that she had followed her heart and not his advice. Upon learning of her position at the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, he told her that she would be giving up too much to follow him to Las Vegas and that she should worry more about her career than their relationship. He felt that if their relationship was meant to survive, they could handle the separation for the duration of his residency. And for a surgeon, that was a foolish thing to say, since he knew full well a man cannot live without his heart. He had wept upon seeing her face the last time he had managed to get away for a couple of days and went to see her back in Los Angeles, and so had she. For the two days they were together, they had not been able to be apart from each other for even a minute. He had nearly walked into the ladies’ room of the restaurant they dined at the second night because he was so in need of her touch. When she took him to the airport that following morning, they both broke down on the departure platform, and she informed him that as soon as she had completed a full year at the coroner’s office she was going to give notice and come to Las Vegas to find work. He half-heartedly tried to talk her out of it, knowing that it could mean she would be giving up her dream of practicing forensic pathology, but his heart was telling him to shut up with every word. In the end, she told him that she would never give up her dream, but would just have to work a little harder for it.

At the end of her full year of employment, she gave her notice to the County Coroner, who had actually begged her not to go, but she was resolute in her decision. She gave him six weeks notice, and told Thomas that with or without a job, she would be in Las Vegas in six weeks. When she called him at the end of the fourth week to give him her flight itinerary for the one interview she had been able to acquire, he learned that she had been asked to interview for another position as well. When she told him who it was with, his heart jumped up into his throat, because Thomas knew how she had dreamed of a job like that her entire life. She would not only get the chance to continue in forensic pathology, but she would be working side by side with one of her idols. He went straight to the hospital chapel and said two extra sets of prayers that night. The chaplain had come in and thought he was there worrying over a family member or a particularly bad patient. So, when Thomas explained to him what was going on, Father Wilhem promised to light a candle for them both when he returned to St. Anne’s that night. Father Wilhem nearly cried in the afternoon when Thomas had asked him to perform their marriage ceremony in less than two weeks. In the seven months Thomas had been in Las Vegas, Father Wilhem had become his greatest friend and he held the man’s opinion in very high regard.

Thomas had not been blessed with the kind, loving and supportive upbringing that his fiancé had been given. He was practically raised by the Brother’s and the Sister’s of the parochial school he had gone to as a boy. He had never known his father and his mother was a part-time prostitute, when she couldn’t stay straight long enough to keep any other job. Brother Angelo was his protector on numerous occasions, and when Social Services was set to take Thomas and his older sister into custody, it was Brother Angelo and Mother Agnes who stepped in and offered them both a place to board at the school. His sister had considered it a punishment most of the time, but Thomas thought it was his greatest blessing. She was housed with the Novitiates in the Convent wing and he with the other Monks in the Monastery wing. He ate dinner every night with Brother Angelo and Father Gregario, and they became his family. His sister was sixteen when they were given refuge at the school, but when she turned seventeen, she convinced Social Services to emancipate her, and she returned to living with their mother, but Thomas stayed with the Monks until he left for college on a full, academic scholarship to Loyola Marymount University, which was Father Gregario’s alma mater. Thomas was most proud of the study bible that Father Gregario had given him when he left for college, as it had been the Father’s when he was a student at that same Catholic university. He still kept it in a place of honor in their home, alongside Father Gregario’s funeral program.

When he first met Stephanie at UCLA Medical School, he was amazed to find another student of the medical school at mass. She claimed that she found comfort in the traditions of the church and she felt that her family was what it was because of the gifts the church had given them. When he learned that she felt that way because both of her parents had been raised in Catholic orphanages, he knew he had met the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. What cinched it for him in the end, was the fact that she was also probably the smartest woman he had ever met who was also deeply religious, as well as possessing one of the keenest wits and sharpest tongues he had ever witnessed. He knew he was in the presence of an exceptional woman, and he was going to do everything in his power to be the man she would want to spend her life with. As it turned out, he already was that man, so there was little effort on his part. The two just seemed to click instantly. He knew it was a done deal when he had met her parents and the famed “Uncle Gil.” Her father and uncle were in Los Angeles for a forensics convention of some sort and the trio had come by to meet, “this young man we’ve been hearing so much about.” At the end of the weekend, her mother had given him a hug and thanked him for making her daughter so happy, her father had shook his hand and told him to study hard, and her uncle had shook his hand and given him a silent nod. Thomas had known from Stephanie that her uncle was not a very social man, and that if he had acknowledged him in any way, that he could consider that an in. When the trio had left, Stephanie had been dumbstruck, and when Thomas questioned her about it, she just said, “I’ve never seen Uncle Gil take to someone so fast… You must be the one.” She had meant it as a little joke, but Thomas took her at her word.

When they had traveled to San Francisco to spend Thanksgiving with her family the next month, Thomas had come prepared. Right after dinner, when he knew everyone would be slow to move, he got down on one knee and proposed right then and there. Thankfully for him, she had accepted, and they were given her parents’ blessing. He had promised her father that he would never ask her to give up her dreams, and that he would do everything in his power to help her achieve them. Her father thanked him for saying so, but then he had told Thomas that he knew his daughter well enough to know that she would make her own decisions based on her own best interest, and he would just have to trust the both of them to understand what that meant to everyone.

The only truly rough spot in their relationship had come when Stephanie’s father had passed away unexpectedly. She was upset that her father would not be able to walk her down the aisle at her wedding, and for a short time, she had blamed Thomas for not wanting to get married until they had completed their residencies. It did not last long, and Thomas had remained at her side through the entire ordeal, never letting her forget how much he loved her and that her father would always be with them, even if he was no longer on this earth. When it was all over, Stephanie had confided in him that it was his strength that had allowed her to grieve in her own time, and she was deeply apologetic for having blamed him for anything. Thomas had only assured her that it would take a lot more than a few angry words spoken in the throes of grief to get rid of him. And when he was sure she was ready, he told her that it would most likely take something on the order of a tactical nuclear weapon to get rid of him at that point in their lives. That was when he knew everything was going to be just fine, because she responded with, “I think that can be arranged.” He so loved her dark sense of humor, especially in tense situations.

It was with those thoughts, and with the fatigue of his shift that he entered their home through the garage door to find a surprise that he never would have suspected in a million years. “Mom? How did you get here?”

“Hey, Thomas… What would you like for breakfast this morning?” The older woman was standing on the other side of the island in their kitchen, her white hair practically glowing from the morning sun coming into the kitchen from the window.

Before he could try to form an answer in his head, his fiancé came bounding into the room, “Hey, gorgeous!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a kiss on his cheek and looked at the other tall woman in their kitchen, “Mom, you can just get him some tea and some toast… He’s probably ready to crash by now, huh honey?”

“Coming right up.” She set to work adding another cup to the tray she was setting up when he entered the house, and Stephanie started leading him into the living room.

Just as he was about to ask her where in the world her mother had come from, Thomas was greeted by another woman in his living room, “Catherine?”

“Well, good morning to you, too.” Catherine was sitting on the couch with a bunch of brochures and flyers spread out on the coffee table.

“Morning…” He turned to Stephanie with a completely confused look on his face, “Did I fall asleep at the hospital and miss a week?”

Stephanie and Catherine immediately started laughing out loud, “Oh honey… I’m sorry, I guess I should have warned you, huh?” She stroked his hair a moment and then leaned her head against his for reassurance. “Catherine is here to help with the wedding stuff… She has some great contacts around Vegas.”

“But your mother wasn’t supposed to be here until Friday.” His face still showed all signs of complete confusion.

“Oh yeah, well, she caught the first flight in to Vegas this morning, after she and I talked last night. She wanted to help out so we weren’t overwhelmed with all the plans and work… You don’t mind, right?” Stephanie guided him into sitting down in his Barcalounger.

Once firmly seated, and Stephanie’s mother had taken her seat on the couch next to Catherine with a tray set up for tea and coffee, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, no… I was just a little shocked to see everyone in here, I guess.”

Stephanie sat on the arm of his chair and cradled his head against her side a moment, “That’s okay, honey… Take your tea from Mom, I’ll go get your toast, and then you can go to bed… When you wake up, the world will be right side up again.”

As she got up to leave the room, he found that his arm was being tapped and a cup of tea was waiting for him. “Thanks, Mom.” The older woman patted his forearm, and he felt the warmth from her hands, and he once again felt the world was back in its rightful place. Dr. Thomas O’Halloran had a family, and he was truly happy.

Chapter 26

The younger woman sitting opposite her in the booth was absently stirring her orange juice and staring off into space. Catherine smiled at the far away look on the face of the auburn haired beauty she was sharing a meal with today. She knew that Stephanie was thinking about what the future held for her, and that was a luxury Catherine had given up a very long time ago. Her cynicism simply did not allow her to think more than a few weeks out at a time. Catherine Willows was a love child, ex-stripper, bitterly divorced, single mother in Las Vegas; for her the future did not exist in more than a few week increments. “Are you trying to get something to dissolve in that juice, or is there something else driving you to stir it up?”

Stephanie broke from her thoughts and looked up at Catherine, “Huh?... Oh yeah.” She put the spoon down and returned her attention to her eating companion, “Sorry, just thinking about stuff.”

“That ‘stuff’ wouldn’t happen to be around six and a half feet tall, broad shoulders, with wavy brown hair and wearing a surgeon’s cap?” Catherine winked over the top of the coffee cup she was holding up to her lips for a drink.

“Mostly.” Stephanie’s cheeks came forward with a light blush at Catherine’s comment. “Also about a curly gray haired entomologist with the bluest eyes, who’s going to have my hide when he figures out what I’ve been up to this week.” After nearly spitting her coffee out at the comment, Catherine realized that beverages were likely to always be a problem around Stephanie when she was talking, and she was always talking.

“Yeah, well, hopefully he’ll be a little too preoccupied to bust you for it until next week.” There was a slight pause as both women contemplated that statement, and then they both burst out laughing at the same time.

“Why do I think that’s the sound that should come before an air-raid siren?” Warrick walked up to their booth and motioned for Catherine to slide over so that he could sit down, “You two laughin’ like that can mean only one thing; you’re up to somethin’.” He reached over and took the remaining strip of bacon off of Catherine’s discarded plate. “Do I need to be worried?”

The look on Catherine’s face was priceless, because it was not often that she was speechless, but before she could swing back with a comment of her own the waitress walked up, “What can I get you, sweetie?”

Warrick scratched his chin a moment and then had an answer, “How about three eggs over easy, whole grain toast, bacon and hashbrowns? Oh, also some coffee and a glass of milk please.” The woman turned over a coffee cup and filled it up for him before walking away to put in his order. “So, what is the Terrible Duo up to tonight?”

Stephanie was the first to answer him, “Same thing we do every night, Pinky?” That time Catherine did spit out her coffee, but at least this time it was back into her cup as she started laughing.

Warrick gave them both a puzzled look, but decided to shrug it off, since he knew that some jokes were just not worth explaining. “Well, I checked in for a few before hittin’ this place… Looks like it’s gonna be a slow night.”

“Won’t that be nice for a change?” Catherine took a quick drink of her coffee when something strange hit her, “What are you doing here so early?”

Warrick tilted his head to the side, “That… Yeah, Tina ended up workin’ a double, and I didn’t want to wake her, so I just left for the lab when I got up, but the stomach was talkin’ trash to me.”

“Thomas said the hospital was a madhouse last night.” Stephanie wiped up the last of her syrup with her last bite of pancake, “His twenty four hour shift turned into almost twenty eight, and the poor guy was just not up to dealing with three women in his living room this morning.” She and Catherine both chuckled at her recap.

“Three?” Warrick raised his eyebrow at the count.

“Yeah, my Mom surprised us by flying in this morning, after we told her about the wedding.” She plopped the bite into her mouth as Warrick nodded at her explanation. As she finished chewing, she looked as though a light bulb had just gone off, “Oh! Hey, can you give me a lift home after shift? I left my car for Mom (Cath picked me up today), and Thomas wanted to talk to you.”

Warrick worked to recover from the request and process the information. He realized that Stephanie was obviously a “morning” person, or that she was just always going full bore, twenty four/seven. “Ah, yeah, I guess I could, since I gotta swing by the hospital and pick up Tina on my way home.” Catherine gave him a questioning look, so he explained further, “She’s dropping her car off at the shop on her way in, and it won’t be ready until the next afternoon.”

Catherine still was not buying it, “Something you couldn’t handle?”

“Nothin’ she wants me to handle… She has this weird thing ‘bout me workin’ on cars.” Warrick did his best to play it off as if it was nothing, but he could tell both women were just humoring him.

“Sounds like fun… Well, I would love to stay here and chat with you two a while longer, but if I don’t get over there and check the supervisor’s board, who knows what Gil has conveniently forgotten about.” Warrick slid out of the booth and offered Catherine a hand to get to her feet. “Have fun, kids.”

He sat back down as they watched her walk through the diner to the exit, Stephanie noticed that Warrick’s glance was a little more focused than hers, and wondered what had gone on there. She decided to store that little nugget of truth away for future mischief making purposes.

When Warrick turned back to her in the booth, he had a little sideways smile on his face, “So, Miss Thing, what’re you up to tonight?”

Before she could answer, the waitress had arrived with his food, so she waited for the woman to set the food down and clear the extra dishware prior to responding. As the waitress walked away, she spoke, “Well, unless something happens, I’ve got nothing going on… David called and told me to take my time, because we were clear tonight, and he’d page me if, or when there was a call.”

Warrick chuckled as he shoved the first bite of food into his mouth. Stephanie turned and stretched her legs out on the booth to get more comfortable. “So, what does Thomas want?”

“Oh, I have no idea… He just wanted me to make sure I told you to swing by and talk to him in the morning.” She chuckled as she thought of something, “We’ve been together for like seven years, but I still have no idea what’s going on in that brain of his sometimes.”

“You don’t sound too unhappy ‘bout that.” Warrick asked between bites.

“Are you kidding? It keeps things interesting!” They both had to laugh at that thought. “Besides, my folks were married a long time, and even though Mom had an inkling of an idea about how Pop worked, he still managed to surprise her every day.”

Warrick had a contented smirk on his face, “Sounds like they had it down.”

“Oh yeah, but not without sacrifice… I mean, Pop was a fairly confirmed bachelor when he met my mother. He was pushing fifty or so and Mom was in her early thirties. Neither one thought they’d ever meet someone that could put up with them.” She chuckled again, “I’ve always wondered what would make them think that, since they were always the coolest parents to me. Of course, as I’ve gotten older I can now see how they may have been a little odd for their time.”

Warrick looked confused, “When did they have you then?”

“Oh, well, Pop was fifty three and Mom was-… She was thirty five. I was something of a surprise for both of them.” Stephanie had a good laugh from her revelation.

“Oh yeah? You were one of those pranks the stork likes to play?” Warrick chuckled as he kept eating.

“You have no idea! Mom wasn’t supposed to be able to, which was one of the reasons she hadn’t married younger, and Pop had a vasectomy some time in the seventies. They used to refer to me as their little needle in the haystack.” That was too much for Warrick, and he nearly choked on his breakfast as he attempted to laugh.

“I guess that’s one way to put it.” Warrick shook his head and tried to dislodge the food from his larynx and continue breathing.

“They’re mostly responsible for my sense of humor… Gil just helped me refine it.” She winked at him and he chuckled again.

Stephanie was quiet for a little while, and Warrick took it as an opportunity to finish his meal without spewing it across the diner. When he was nearly done, she spoke again, “So, what should I do about Sara? I mean, I thought we had cleared the air last weekend, but I haven’t really seen her this week so far. In fact, if Gil hadn’t called me to look at that cut on her neck, I wouldn’t have seen her at all.”

Warrick could actually sense the pain those words had caused Stephanie, and he knew that she truly felt hurt by Sara’s lack of social graces. “Look, all I can tell you is Sara is a tough nut to crack… She doesn’t warm up to people right away, and sometimes, her shyness, comes off as kind of, well-…”

“Bitchy?”

He chuckled and nodded his head, “Exactly! How’d you get to be so good at reading people?”

“That would be Pop… He made his career on being able to read people.” She turned around in the seat to face him again, “He found me reading a book about understanding body language one time, and he told me that I would never truly learn that skill if I didn’t observe people in every conceivable situation. He said that it wasn’t about whether they looked left or right, but what was in their hearts and behind those eyes that mattered. And he also said that it wasn’t something you could learn; it was an instinct. Told me to study hard, learn as much as was possible and to use that knowledge to know when to trust my instincts. If all the books in the world say that the guy is lying, but your gut says to look deeper, then you owe it to yourself and that guy to do just that.” She sat back a little and a huge grin spread across her face, “I figure the man with the highest closure rate in the history of the SFPD might just have a point there.”

Warrick shook his head, “Can’t argue with that.” Warrick thought a little about her original question and added, “And with Sara, you gotta remember that she has some issues with Autopsy, ever since she became a vegetarian, so don’t take it personal.”

Stephanie thought about what he had said for a few moments before something struck her as odd, “Then how does she do her job at the scene?”

“Sorry, her issue with Autopsy, is that it reminds her of the meat packing places she’s seen. And with you in there carvin’ ‘em up, you can’t really blame the girl.” It was Warrick’s turn to make the joke and Stephanie’s turn to nearly lose the drink of coffee she had just taken before joining him in laughter.

“Well, that’s just another reason to get them together Friday night; so I can get to know her out of the lab. From everything I’ve heard, she sounds like someone I’d have a lot in common with, and that’s not so common for me.” Stephanie winked at Warrick with her jab at herself.

However, Warrick was ready to have the last word this time around, “You ain’t got to tell me. And I thank God for that fact every day.”